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Anatomy Building Razed By Wind-Blown Flames
Vault May Save Some Equipment
Fire of undetermined origin beginning shortly after 7 o'clock tonight destroyed the anatomy building of the school of medicine between seven and eight o'clock tonight. University officials were unable to give an estimate of the damage pending an inventory of the contents of the fireproof vault located in one corner of the building which contained most of the valuable equipment used in the building.
Chancellor Deane W. Malott stated that approximately $20,000 worth of slides in addition to valuable charts and departmental microscopes were in the vault. Actual damage cannot be determined until it is possible to make an investigation of the contents of the vault after the embers have died down.
The fire was discovered at ten minutes after seven by Sam Elliott, University custodian, as he was on his way from Fraser Hall to Strong Hall, administration building. Elliott said a vision of smoke puffing?
Elliott, University custodia. ser Hall to Strong Hall, adn he saw a wisp of smoke puffing up over the entrance to the building on the south, and that he shouted "Fire." Sailors in the naval machinists' mates school, who were stationed at Fowler shops across the street from the building called the fire department, and Lawrence fire fighting equipment arrived on the scene within a short time.
In the building were between fifty and seventy cadavers used for dissections by the medical students. Just what damage was done to these was conjectural, but members of the medical staff believed the damage would not be great as many of the bodies were in the basement and all were encased in fluid and contained in steel tanks. The bodies are kept in a phenol solution of approximately ten percent which was not inflammable.
Planning Committee Meets
While the embs were still smoking, members of the medical staff met with Chancellor Malott and other University authorities to discuss plans for continuing classes in other buildings on the campus. Chancellor Malott said that classes would continue tomorrow as usual, except for the inconvenience occasioned by the students loss of notebooks, charts, and other valuable materials. Final plans were not possible until an investigation of the full loss of essential materials was made.
Chancellor Malott pointed out that it was planned to vacate the building as soon as Lindley Hall, throw mineral industries building already for occupance. The anatomy department was to have been moved into Haworth Hall, housing the geology department, after the geology department had been moved into its new quarters in Lindley
Hall. Lindley Hall is expected to be ready for occupancy about July 1 of this year.
Constructed In 1921
The building, a one story frame structure, was constructed in 1921 for a University commons. It was used as such until 1927 when the Memorial Union Building was opened. The anatomy department was moved into the structure in 1932 from Dyche Museum, when Dyche was condemned and closed for repeirs.
Between 1927 and the time the anatomy department moved in, the building was used as headquarters for University student publications, the university stenographic bureau, and practice rooms for the University band.
Chancellor Malott pointed out that the only reason the building had not been vacated before was because it was impossible to find quarters for the anatomy department in other campus buildings.
According to Dr. H. C. Tracy, professor of anatomy, the explosions heard during the fire were probably cans of formaldehyde or other chemicals, instead of the tanks in which the cadavers were stored.
Hundreds of sailors, stationed on Mt. Oread in the naval school for machinists' mates, assisted the Lawrence firemen in combatting the blaze.
Dr. C. W. Asling, assistant professor of anatomy, is believed to have been the last person in the building. He stated that he left the building at ten minutes after six am that everything appeared to be in order at that time.
The destruction of the anatomy building was the first important fire on the campus since the Fowler Shops fire in 1918.
Sailors Aid Firemen
Explosions Heard During Fire
UNIVERSITY Daily Kansan
LAWRENCE, KANSAS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 1943
40th YEAR
NUMBER 84
MEDICAL STUDENTS
An announcement will be posted on the bulletin board in the office of the School of Medicine in Haworth hall at 9:30 this morning, designating the time and meeting place of classes formerly eld in the Anatomy building, Chancellor Malott announced.
Students May Help Move Bodies
Notes On The Fire
The Buildings and Grounds department will move all cadavers that were salvaged in the anatomy building to Snow hall at 6:00 tomorrow (Thursday) morning. The department will be able to use all student help available. Three trucks will transport the cadavers to Snow hall.
A strong southwest wind added to the ferocity of the fire which soon attracted a large crowd of spectators. Smoke and bits of charred paper could be seen for several miles.
Persons in downtown Lawrence observed pieces of burning paper dropping on the streets soon after the fire started.
A bus driver arriving in Lawrence said that the blaze could be seen as far away as Tonganoxie and that many persons in that vicinity drove to Lawrence to see the burning building.
Students and townpeople thronged to the Hill by the thousands to see the frame building of the anatomy building go up in smoke.
Medical students organized watching parties to stand guard over the still-steaming vault where valuable equipment was stored and which is still hoped to be intact.
Throwing themselves into the battle with the flames determinedly and courageously, the machinists' mates on the Hill organized fire lines and aided the firemen in directing the streams of water against the burning building as effectively and efficiently as if they had been on a burning quarterdeck.
First Big Fire Since 1918 Fowler Blazed Then
The fire which destroyed the anatomy building tonight was the first serious fire on the University campus since Fowler shops burned during World War I on May 9, 1918.
The Fowler shops fire occurred just three weeks before the building was to be turned over to the government for use in training soldiers. The loss at that time was about $16,000 to the building and about $18,000 to the equipment. The shops
almost as they had been before the fire. Some of the machinery was later reclaimed and put into working order.
A fire of lesser seriousness in the tower of Fowler shop damaged ROTC uniforms and equipment to the sum of about $4,000 on July 17, 1932.
Powerhouse Burned In 1898
Another fire which affected University students was the fire of 1898 which destroyed the powerhouse. At this time, a two-weeks' vacation was forced because of lack of heat and power. Before 1898 the engineering shops had been in the powerhouse. After the fire, a separate shop building was constructed.
George A. Fowler, a Kansas City packer, gave the University $18,000 for the construction of the new shops which were named in honor of his father. The building was constructed in 1899.
Kansan's Contest Ends Friday
The "Random Harvest" contest, which will have thirty theater passes as prizes for the winners, began yesterday under the sponsorship of the Kansan and the Jayhawk theater.
Any student is eligible to enter the contest. All that has to be done is write an original statement of 25 words or less, on the subject, "Why I Want to See 'Random Harvest'!" All entries should be turned in to the Kansan business office in the journalism building before 5 o'clock tomorrow evening. Two passes to the Jayhawker will be awarded for the ten best statements and one free pass to the next ten best. The contest will close Friday.
Building Goes Up In Smoke