44 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



1915— Men 1065 



Women 334 



Percentage of Female IG 7-10 



191G — Men IGIO 



Women 383 



rercentage of Female 19 1-5 



Sunday morning. March 5th, fire destroyed the Engineering Rnilding 

 and Shops besides doing some considerable damage to the east end of 

 Wells Hall. Willi the help of slndents, teachers, and friends from East 

 Lansing much valuable machinery and instrnmenls were saved from 

 the basement of the west end of the Engineering Building and quite a 

 large i>ortion of the machinery in the shops was removed without dam- 

 age. The loss incurred by the tire is shoAvn in Ihe report of Dean Bissell. 



On the afternoon following the fire I made a personal appeal by wire 

 to Mr. Ransom E. Olds of the Reo Motor Car Co., in behalf of tlie col- 

 lege. Under date of April 2!)th T received the following letter from Mr. 

 Olds: 



April 29th, 19 IG. 

 Pres, Frank S. Kedzie, 



Michigan Agricultural College, 

 East Lansing, Michigan. 



Dear Mr. Kedzie — Confirming our conversalion of last Saturday and 

 my statement that I would give One Hundred Thousand Dollars (|100,- 

 000) towards the re-construction of the Engineering Building at the 

 IMichigan Agricultural College. It is my desire that you advise the 

 Board of my action, and further advise them that in the near future 1 

 will deposit this amount in the Capital National Bank, of this city, sub- 

 ject to the call of the proper officials as the work progresses. 



I have great faith in the Michigan Agricultural College and see no 

 reason why it should not become one of the foremost colleges in the 

 United States. 



Very truly yours, 



R. E. OLDS. 



In accepting this gift on the part of the board Mr. I. R. Waterbury 

 offered the following resolutions which were unanimously adopted: 



Resolved, That the State Board of Agriculture accepts the gift of Mr. 

 Ransom E. Olds with the deepest sense of appreciation and gratitude. 

 In a material Avay the generosity of Mr. Olds relieves a situation most 

 embarrassing and difficult. It provides means for the speedy restora- 

 tion of our lost buildings and equipment; it removes the shadow of a 

 year of grinding necessity, toward which we have been looking and of 

 which M. A. C. has experienced many in the past. But this first great 

 gift does much more than this, it places the stamp of highest approval 

 upon the engineering work that has been done at this institution and 

 forever closes the door of controversy. And this is not all, for it estab- 

 lishes the fact that Michigan Agricultural College, as a state and na- 

 tional institution, is not beyond the pale of private bequest, and that an 

 appreciative citizen may here find a means of perpetuating his name far 



