Harvard men he characterized as 'less glowing and gregarious' than Yale men. Commenting on a certain student from a standard Boston family, he said, 'He appears to be the possessor of but two adjectives, "bully" and "rotten."' When I asked him about X's Class Day oration, he answered, 'Robust commonplace.' Of a graduate who had written somewhat irresponsibly about Harvard, he observed, 'He is not a scientific person.' Of the place to which women were relegated when waiting for books in the University Library, he said, 'A pen is provided for them.'

Installed Gas Pipes

In an address to the business men of Harvard Square, he told of Harvard Square in its earlier days and of the permission that he got from President Walker to put gas into Holworthy Hall as an experiment. 'Those pipes in Holworthy Hall,' said he, 'still belong to the Cambridge Gas Company; but I doubt if they know it.'

He loved to tell experiences which amused him and told them with full appreciation of their humorous side. One of these experiences was the acquisition of Austin Hall:--

Mr. Austin (meeting the President in the street): 'What does the University need most now?'

Mr. Eliot: 'A new building for the Law School.'

Mr. Austin (after hesitation): 'I'll give it. I hate a lawyer like the devil!'

A Rich Correspondent

I cannot ignore a correspondence that I had with him in the summer of 1898. At my summer home in the woods of Plymouth, Massachusetts, I got a letter from Mr. E. B. Barton, a young graduate, whose diploma, testifying that he had received the degree of A.B., had been eaten by rats in Wadsworth House. He petitioned for another diploma in its place. As I knew that the President's objection to duplicating a diploma was almost Draconian in its rigidity, I had scarcely a shred of hope for Mr. Barton; but I did write to Mr. Eliot, then at Mount Desert, suggesting that, since Wadsworth House was a College building, the rats might be regarded as our own rats, for whose conduct toward Mr. Barton the College was responsible. I have rarely been more surprised than when I read his reply. North-East Harbor, Maine   August 23, 1898

Dear Mr. Briggs:

I think we might issue another diploma to E. Blake Barton on the ground you mention--our own rats. I think there must have been an unexpected irruption of rats in Wadsworth House, for I never heard of any there before. I will write to the Bursar about them by this mail.

The remainder of the letter deals with other subjects. If I wrote immediately to Mr. Barton, as I believe that I did, my exultation was premature. Another surprise was in store for me. So soon after the first letter that even now its promptness is unintelligible, I received a second one:--   North-East Harbor, Maine   August 25, 1898

Dear Mr. Briggs:

I have changed my mind about Barton's diploma. Mr. Cutler (the head janitor) reports that a person who has used Barton's room in Wadsworth House during vacation left crackers and cheese in the room. It is probably A. Z. Reed. This food attracted the rats and mice. No other damage has been done in Wadsworth House. I think Barton will have to content himself with a certificate.

The writer then turned to another matter.