DEPARTMENT REPORTS 25 



for buildinjr purposes. This can be put to splendid use in meeting the fol- 

 lowing needs of the College: 



IMPROVKMKXTS. 



Without making any attempt to classify these needs in the order in 

 which thev should be responded to bv the College, the following improve- 

 ments are very imperative: 



Heating and water plant. Our present heating system was inaugurated 

 nineteen years ago. It was then extended to only two or three buildings. 

 To these have been added other buildings from vear to vear until at 

 present the old system is extended to almost all the large buildings on 

 the campus. In many instances the extension was of a cheap and inferior 

 order. Breaks are frequent and much of the heat radiates into the 

 ground. The boilers are old and unsafe. To heat the buildings erected 

 last year — the Women's Building and the Dairy — a temporary arrange- 

 ment has been provided by the erection of a boiler near the Women's 

 Building. This makes it necessary to keep two sets of firemen. 



Our water system was also put in operation nineteen years ago. 

 "SA'ooden pipes were used. These have become leaky and an unnecessary 

 waste is going on all the time. The most perplexing trouble, however, 

 comes from the fear of fire. We have our system so arranged that we can 

 connect with the river at once and use our large pump, but it is feared 

 by our engineer that if we were to put a heavy pressure on these old pipes 

 they would burst. It is not believed by those in a position to know that 

 these old wooden pijjes would stand sufficient pressure to force the water 

 to the top of one of our high buildings. We should have a new heating 

 and water system. There should be tunnels run across the grounds in 

 which all the pipes and wires could be placed. It is estimated that a 

 proper system would cost about |;()0,000. 



In our mechanical engineering course we have 222 students. We have 

 the same shop room, drawing rooms, etc., as were thought necessary for 

 the dei)artment when it numbered only about 90 students. We now 

 divide the classes into sections so that the more crowded shops can be 

 kept running practically all the time. Even with this arrangement it is 

 almost im])ossible to find accommodations. Every lathe is taken and 

 with the increase that is sure to come in this department we must have 

 more room in order to accommodate them. Our present building, while 

 it has answered the purjiose up to the present time fairly well, is a cheap 

 structure, costing, all told, about |lo,000. This buihling should be used 

 exclusively for slioi)s and our Engineering 1 )eparlin<Mit should have 

 a new building. — one costing fifty or sixty thousand dollars. It could at 

 once be i)ut to excellent service in providing rooms for drawing, drafting, 

 cPass rooms and engineering work. 



Auditorium and Library. The old chapel seats less than 20(1 persons. 

 If all our students today desired to attend our exercises only about 

 one-third of them could be accommodated. There is no o])portunity to 

 call the students together and address them in a body. The incentive 

 to attend religious exercises is very much stullitied at the beginning of 

 each term when a great many are turned away for lack of room. For 

 our lecture course and for other large meeting we are required to use the 

 Armory. This necessitates the hauling of chairs to the extent of six or 

 4 



