A letter has recently been received at the CRIMSON office from Mr. Francis R. Appleton, '75, containing full information in regard to the Beacon Cup spoken of in a previous issue in connection with the class racess.

It seems that a few months ago an inquiry was made of Mr. Appleton about this cup, and learning that no such cup now existed, that no one at least knew anything of it, as it had not appeared as a college trophy for many years, Mr. Appleton at once set about learning the facts of its disappearance. The search involved some correspondence with the college authorities, in whose custody it had always been, and the cup itself was finally found in the safe at the bursar's office, where it had lain undisturbed since 1877.

The cup appears to have been first set up about 1858, as a prize for the winners of the "Beacon Cup Regatta." In that year a crew of Harvard men rowed against all comers, and in the same year there is a record of the Beacon Cup Regatta, in which the Harvard crew won a three-mile race from seven others. President Eliot rowed in the Harvard boat and the bow oar was Mr. Alexander Agassiz. The complete make-up was: 1, B. W. Crowninshield (stroke); 2, C. Crowninshield; 3, C. W. Eliot; 4, J. H. Ellison; 5, R. B. Gelston; 6, A. Agassiz (bow).

Not until 1866 was the cup instituted as a prize for the winners of the spring class races. The cup is a large silver goblet inscribed all over with the names of the winning crews from 1866 to 1874. After that time there is no record on it, the names of the winning crews being inscribed on a parchment until the year 1877, after which time, for some unaccountable reason, the cup is not mentioned as the prize for the class races. It was the custom to give each member of the winning crews a small silver cup as a souvenir of the Beacon Cup.

In the list of cup winners since 1874, it is noted that during the years 1875 to 1878, inclusive, the cup was won by a club crew,- the Holworthy Club crew, three times out of the four. Clubs were organized in 1875 and the club races for a while took the places of the class races. Membership in these clubs was arbitrary, fixed byresidence in the dormitories, but the club system was short-lived because there seemed to be no good basis of interest in their existence.

Several graduates to whom these facts have been mentioned are much interested in reviving the old cup and have subscribed toward a piece of plate on which are to be engraved the names of all the winning crews (as winners of the Beacon Cup) from 1874 to 1897. The plate is an octagonal platter, large enough to hold all the names of the winning crews in the past and still leave room for the winners for twenty years to come. In the centre of the plate will be the following inscription;

WINNERS OF THE BEACON CUP SPRING CLASS RACES. HARVARD COLLEGE.In all there will be some three thousand letters engraved upon the plate.

The revival of this cup and the lasting record of the names of those who have contested for it so many years, cannot fail to be of interest to all Harvard men. The cup and plate, when complete, will be placed in the custody of the Bursar, and it will rest with the undergraduates each year to keep alive its memory. It dates back for so many years as the trophy for the principal aquatic event of the college year that it is hoped it will continue so for many years to come.

The following are the winning crews from 1875 to 1897:

1875. Holworthy Club Crew-F. R. Appleton (stroke), E. C. Hall, G. W. Irving, J. C. Bolan, R. W. Guild, H. Denton (bow), P. Butler (coxswain).

1876. Holworthy Club Crew-C. G. Weld (stroke), W. S. Miller, D. T. Seligman, P. Tuckerman, C. Isham, F. Donaldson (bow), H. Denton (coxswain).

1877. Holworthy Club Crew-A. P. Loring (stroke), N. H. Harriman, A. W. Hooper, L. F. Woodward, J. R. W. Hitchcock, M. Bull (bow), C. C. Foster (coxswain).

1878. Matthews Club Crew-G. K. Boutelle (stroke), L. F. Woodward, G. B. Hatch, E. Fuller, A. Hale, P. Keyes (bow), J. S. Mason (coxswain).

1879. Senior Crew-Alvah Crocker (stroke), D. O. Ives, T. W. Preston, T. Lee, C. O. Brewster, I. T. Burr, Jr. G. v L. Meyer, J. E. Cowdin (bow), W. C. Cadwell (coxswain).

1880. '83 Freshman Crew-C. P. Curtis (stroke), E. T. Cabot, C. M. Hammond, C. M. Belshaw, F. L. Sawyer, J. M. Burch, H. G. Chapman, J. D. Sherwood (bow), I. Buchman (coxswain).