Almost 500 Yale and Harvard supporters literally tore apart Jim Cronin's as the closing hour of midnight drew near last night. Waitresses were still shoveling broken glass early this morning, and Jim himself was thumbing the phonebooks looking for carpenters.

It's the worst thing that's ever happened to us," Jim stated disgustedly as he threw inebriates into the early morning rain. "There'll be no profits tonight," his son added amidst a flow of less printable opinions.

Cronin called both Yale and Harvard students responsible for damages amounting to over $300.

Feelings began to run high when a Harvard student with firecrackers bombarded a Yalie sitting nearby. Replying with a friendly barrage of beerbottles, the Yalie soon dragged friends into the fracas.

Lucky waitresses picked up three yards before loaded trays were kicked from their hands. With casual sweeps of the hand, patrons were brushing glasses off onto the floor from the tables. Chairs were crushed under upturned tables and benches broken off from the walls. A sprinkling of catsup topped off the whole mess.

Police stood helplessly outside the swinging doors helping lurching grid fans to their feet long after midnight.

Explosion

The only other trouble was a loud explosion heard shortly after 2 a.m. this morning. Cambridge and Boston police were deluged by inquiries about it, but were mystified as to its cause or location.

Elsewhere in the Square area, all was quiet. There were a few mellow renditions of "Good Night, Fair Harvard," in the Hayes-Bickford, and a few choruses of "Bulldog, Bulldog" emitted by Yalies as they marched off to bed.

Yard police noted no damage or disturbances on any University property. Policemen stood in the doorways of Weld and Matthews Halls keeping a watchful eye on John Harvard even though the pouring rain emptied the Yard of passersby. A lone cry of "Reinhardt" brought no response from the Yard dormitories.

Yalies held a small but vigorous rally in front of Howard Johnson's Square restaurant at 9 p.m., which lasted through three renditions of "Bulldog, Bulldog," and a half a dozen cheers