Among the various reputed attractions of a university town are its handsome editices and well-kept grounds. For the most part Harvard's buildings have been constructed with some attempt to please the eye, and the daily pick-up of all wayward cigarette stubs along the walks of the Yard would do justice to a royal lawn. But the care bestowed by the university on other parts of its property is very different.

The ill-fated lot at the corner of Mount Auburn and Holyoke Streets, destined at one time for the proposed college dining hall, has been in its present condition for a considerable period. Few passers-by can have any suspicion of its intimate connection with the beautiful and opulent university near-by; its appearance is that of a repository for refuse which has been unable to find its way to the more recognized public dumps.

As landlord to the large district between Mount Auburn Street and the river Harvard has shown little more civic pride. Houses are rented and inhabited which would be better fitted to the surroundings of East Boston. Even in Shepherd Hall, a college dormitory, the accommodations are a disgrace to present-day housing standards.

Harvard is justly proud of its Yard and its historic monuments. Must the care of other university property shame the college, in the eyes of the public?