2 LIVING HERE 



/A 



43 



Modernized service at 

 the Mess in 1953. After 

 Miss Belle's retirement, 

 meals were served, no 

 longer by waiters, but 

 cafeteria-style. 

 Photograph by Alicia 

 Hills, MBL Archives. 



Once the Mess building was built, it served as the central meeting place 

 until replaced by Swope. Only once did the MBL crowd gather somewhere 

 else to eat for any length of time. During World War I, the Navy took over 

 some of the MBL's buildings, including the Mess. Woods Hole was a good 

 site because it already had the government's Fish Commission buildings 

 and the deep water that Baird had long ago selected to enable the Commis- 

 sion's large ships to dock. In addition, the small town at the bottom of the 

 Cape was relatively isolated and secure. Yet when the Navy moved in for the 

 winter of 1917-1918, the MBL trustees vowed that they would make all 

 efforts to keep the place running the next summer. They believed that 'it 

 is the duty of scientific men not called directly to war service to maintain 

 their scientific activities. " 



In 1943, the Navy returned once again to set up a temporary base in 

 Woods Hole. They took over the old lecture hall, tlie old botany building, the 

 apartment house, and Penzance Garage on the wharf, in addition to the 

 Mess. MBL arranged for alternative boarding at the Nobska Inn, now tlie 

 Woods Hole Inn, which was not really large enough to hold everyone at 

 once. In addition, the general rationing and shortage of meat and butter 

 made the fare less satisfactory. Because somewhat less than half the usual 

 number of researchers and students had come to the MBL for that wartime 

 season, the effect was less serious that it might have been. Yet Woods Hole 



