Two hook-and-ladder fire trucks, six fire engines, two police cars, and the fire chief streamed through the Yard at 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon to answer the frantic alarm that "Weld Hall has gone at last."

Led by their chief, the Cambridge fire department climbed up Weld Hall stairs to room 40 belonging to Chapin Wallour '42. there tucked behind desks and chairs, they found some charred wood caused by a hot soldering iron.

Fire Chief Glad to See Harvard

"Well, at last I've been to Harvard," the fire chief exclaimed, discovering that the fire had been put out ten minutes before his men had arrived. After prying in the charred wood with a crowbar for several minutes, the chief led his two look-and-ladders, six fire engines, and the two police cars out of the Yard.

Wallour explained that when he returned to his room after lunch, he discovered that his soldering iron had been accidentally connected. He called a member of the maintenance department to make sure that the fire was out. The maintenance department phoned the college switchboard which sent a number ten alarm to the fire department.