State Historical Society
THE KANSAN.
OFFICIAL PAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS.
VOL.I. No.42.
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, MARCH 9, 1905.
PLANS FOR GYM.
To Equal Any in the West.
Dr. James Naismith, athletic director of the University, has complete plans drawn up for the new $100,000 gymnasium and auditorium and will present them to the Board of Regents at their first meeting. Dr. Naismith's plans were drawn on the basis of the $125,000 appropriation asked' and the size of the building will have to be reduced somewhat, but the general plans will probably stand, except for slight changes the architect may find necessary.
The first floor, which is the gymnasium proper, will be divided only by partitions of wire screen, and will be open to visitors at all times. It will include a girls' and a boys' gymnasium, wrestling, fencing, boxing and apparatus rooms, and can be thrown into one large room by the removal of the screen partitions.
The original plan is for a building one hundred feet by one hundred and fifty, with an elevation of fifty-six feet, including two stories and basement. The basement is devoted to lockers, baths, swimming pools, and a baseball cage.
The second floor is the auditorium which, with the gallery, will have a seating capacity of nearly three thousand people. Besides this, there will be a large faculty room and a handball court thirty feet by forty-five feet. The auditorium will be arranged to accommodate almost any kind of indoor athletic meet. There will be a running track around the gallery which will be one-sixteenth of a mile in length, and by the shifting of seats, any sort of athletic event can be held on the main floor.
GELEBRATE FRIDAY.
Work on the new building will probably be begun some time this summer, and it should be completed by the opening of the academic year of 1906-07. If these plans are adopted, the University will have a gymnasium second to none in the west. Dr. Naismith spent a part of last year visiting gymnasiums of eastern Universities and Colleges, and has embodied the best features of all in his plans. The aim has been to secure the most working space at least cost.
Rogents and Legislators to be Present.
Chancellor Strong announces that next Friday there will be special chapel exercises to celebrate the getting of the big appropriation. The Regents have been invited to be present and the members of the legislature who were especially friendly to University interests.
A number of musical selections will be given and the best chapel exercises of the year.
REGENTS APPOINTED.
W. A. White Succeeds Mr. Converse.
The Senate confirmed Governor Hoch's appointment of the following members to the Board of Regents of the University, Monday afternoon: Thos, H. Potter, of Peabody, Alexander C. Mitchell, of Lawrence, and William Allen White, of Emporia.
The appointments are for the next four years. Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Potter were reappointed, and Mr. White succeeds Chas. N. Converse of Burlington.
William Allen White was a student at the University from 1887-92, and was known as one of the brightest and most energetic men in the institution. He served as editor and as business manager of the old University Weekly. The University has no better friend in the state than Mr. White, and the governor could not have named a man who would serve it more conscientiously.
PATENTS A SYSTEM OF SHIP COMMUNICATION.
Prof. Lucian I Blake, has just returned from Boston, where he disposed of his patents on a system of ship communication to the Submarine Signal Company of that city.
Professor Blake began his experiments in 1890 on the Kansas river and these were afterward carried out by the United States Light House board with very successful results. The fact that this company is one of the largest of its kind in the United States speaks well for the system.
Prof. Blake has been made the consulting engineer of the company.
DEATH OF ROBERT LINDER.
Robert Linder, Junior Law, died Saturday afternoon while being taken to his home at Wathena. He had been ill for two weeks at his rooms on 1217 Rhode Island street, with inflammation of the bowels, but nothing serious was expected until last Thursday when complications set in and an operation was decided necessary to save his life. As the chance of recovery from the operation was so small his father decided to take him home, but he died on the train between Lawrence and Topeka.
The Junior Law class, of which he was a member, adopted resolutions of condolence and sent a copy of them with a beautiful floral offering to his parents.
Linder was 21 years of age and was a native of Missouri. He graduated from the Wathena High school in '04, and entered the Law school last Fall. His parents and friends have the sympathy of the whole University in their bereavement.
COMFORTS OF HOME.
Dramatic Club Gives Fourth Annual Play.
Dramatic Club gives Fourth Annual Play. The Dramatic Club of the University presented "All the Comforts of Home" at Bowersock opera house Tuesday night. This play is an English comedy written by William Gillette and presented first on the American stage in 1890.
"All the Comforts of Home" is a play tounded on the plot of an insanely jealous Englishman who suddenly takes his wife and daughter for a trip on the continent and leaves his mansion in care of a spendthrift nephew. This nephew takes a protege of his, a street urchin to keep him company. They decide to take in roomers "on halvers" to increase their funds. Among the people who come to share the uncle's roof are: a retired produce dealer, peculiarly fond of the fair sex, and his wife and daughter, a gay young actress, a broken down music teacher "the nervous galoot," and a man of leisure. The uncle suddenly returns from the continent and finds these people in possession of his home.
The play was a whirlwind of fun from the time the curtain went up until the last cue was given. Courtships, flirtations and complications followed each other in merry bewildering confusion.
5 Cents per copy.
Wallis D. Wilson, as a coy old flirt, Fred Wullekuhler as Tom the street urchin, Wilber Parker "the nervous galoot," Clara Carr in the role of a precise husband ruler, and J. H. Richardson in a part very difficult for an ameture were plainly the stars of the cast. Solon Smith and Louise Barker, were also exceptionally fine, but then they were all good and every person in the cast did himself proud.
The play Tuesday uight was undoubtedly the best liked play that has ever been given by the dramatic club. It did not give the chance for individual starring that Rosemary did or for the pretty scenes of Alabama but was simply two hours of well played rollicking fun. The dramatic club has been at work on this play ever since before Christmas under the careful training of Prof. E. G. Fraser.
In spite of the stormy night a well filled house greeted the ciub last night.
ART COLLECTION.
Five hundred dollars a year for two years has been granted by the legislature to the Federation of Women's Clubs for the purpose of purchasing photographs of famous works of art, for a traveling collection which is to be under the direction of the authorities of the University.
The collection is to be sent to
the different towns which have womens' clubs, and when not in circulation will be at the University in care of the department of drawing and painting. The Federation already has a collection of photographs worth $375, purchased with money collected by the women's clubs, and the pictures are now in circulation. The most prominent worker in this movement has been Mrs. Aplington of Council Grove.
MUSIC AT THE UNIVERSITY.
The interest in musical affairs, at present, seems to be especially active at the University. The chorus for the May festival is practicing regularly, the Glee Club is planning for Spring engagements and next year's work. The orchestra is preparing to take part in the Commencement exercises.
The policy of the music schools under Dean Skilton's direction is to bring the best musical artists, that our University community can afford, to give the music students an opportunity to perform in public, to render as high a grade and as great a variety of music as possible, and to develop musical life generally at the University.
Last year four piano recitals were given by famous artists. This plan was continued this year, three of the recitals have been given, the fourth will be given April 6, by Miss Mary Wood Chase.
In connection with the musical festival given in May last year, the students had an opportunity to hear famous singers and a great orchestra. The musical forces of our University took an important part in this festival, and are already at work to try to make this year's festival better than the one last year.
Dean Skilton proposes to have the students become acquainted with less accessible music. Last year the music department, assisted by Prof. E.G. Frasier as leader, presented "Mid-Summer's Night's Dream." This year they are talking of giving "Enoch Arden," arranged and set to music by Richard Strauss.
This has only piano accompaniment.
There are lectures given every Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 o'clock, on music history, with playing to illustrate different points. These lectures are open to all students of the University. The musical forces of the University are planning to give a famous opera next year. This is to be "Der Freischutz" by Weber.
Professor Wiley, instructor in violin, has instituted the Chamber concerts, concerts given by piano, organ, violin and cello. There will be five of these concerts given this year, two of which have already occured.