MISCELLANEOUS

• BRICKYARDS
• FIRE PROTECTION
• FIRES
• FLAG POLES
• MEMORIALS and CLASS GIFTS
• POST OFFICES and MAIL SERVICE
• RADIO and TELEVISION
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• SCULPTURE
  • PETERSEN WORKS
  • OTHER SCULPTURE
• SIGNS
• STORMS, FLOODS and CYCLONES
• VICTORY BELL

BRICKYARDS

The first brick made on the college grounds were those for the walls of the Farm House.¹ The exact location of that 1860 brickyard has not been identified.

When construction for the College Building was started in 1864 the con­tract for the manufacture and laying of the bricks was awarded to Chamber­lin & Co. of Jones County

to burn seven hundred and fifty thousand at $5.85 per thousand and the College furnish the wood. The first kiln of 200,000 was burned well, but unfortunately too much lime gravel was in the clay which burst the brick; in accepting this kiln there was a deduction of 10 per cent. We have paid them on this kiln $1010.00.

The second kiln contained about 100,000 of better made than the first, but not as a burn. We have paid $451.00 on this kiln. The kiln is on the land of Mr. Porter, formerly owned by W.J. Graham, adjoining the farm. We will have to pay Mr. Graham 20 cts. per thousand. The first hundred thousand nothing to be paid on. The whole amount paid to Chamberlin & Co. is $1338.82.²

Whether the kiln on Mr. Porter’s land refers only to the second burn is uncertain. Perhaps the first kiln was on the farm. In a letter request­ing additional compensation, on March 20, 1865, B.K. Bronson of Chamber­lin & Co. refers to the first kiln burned (200M) “and those made in the yard (some 60M more).”³ This seems to indicate that there were two different locations.

At the same Board meeting A.J. Graves, then farm manager reported that in August of 1865 he had “commenced to haul away first brick kiln… moved about one hundred thousand to college.” In October he had “hauled thirty-five cords of wood to brick yard.” And in November “hauled lum­ber from brick yard for fence.” (Mr. Bronson’s request for additional funds was rejected.)

Charles A. Dunham, the architect retained in 1865 to replace the pre­vious architect, expressed his opinion of the bricks made earlier:

The Brick that were made in the year 1865 were good solid bricks but were filled with lime pebbles and when the rains came in con­tact with them and afterwards the frost the lime in the pebbles slacked and burst to pieces destroying them for facings for the building, but they will answer every purpose for the interior walls.⁴

In 1865 a new contract for brick work was entered into with S.A. Robert­son of Des Moines. He, with Dunham, determined the site of the brick­yard. He reported:

I selected a site in the timber as the most eligible location notwithstanding it would cost heavily to clear and grade the same… In the month of April work was commenced on the yard and pushed forward as rapidly as possible and we were ready for brick making in May. There being no suitable place for boarding men employed, it was, necessary to build suitable buildings and in accordance with your instructions to build the same with the least possible expense compatible with the health and comfort of the men, a building 16 x 60 feet was commenced upon my arrival on the ground… The buildings were completed early in May. The nec­essary bedding, cooking utensils, etc. were procured, cooks em­ployed and from that time on the men were well satisfied, and I think considerable money saved besides having the men close to their work…

“Notwithstanding the extremely bad weather during the greater part of the first four months – hard on brickmakers and masons – losing thousands of brick on account of the heavy storms and rains – the character of the clay and the scarcity of covering lumber, yet I think I can with some little pride refer to the a­mount of work done and quality of brick made. The clay was diffi­cult to work cracking in the yard and at times I almost despaired but after experimenting, working and trying, first class brick were made and can be made hereafter.

On the 16th day of August I received a notice from you to suspend operations the money appropriated by the General Assembly being nearly exhausted… Before I left the farm, the tools used in the work were gathered together and safely stored away, the boarding house goods and chattels cleaned and packed and all things left in good shape for a renewal of operations in the spring. The missing and broken tools and articles I am happy to say made but a small list.⁵

Robertson then itemized his labor costs, including the following:

Building the Boarding house took 1520 feet of native lumber and 5475 feet of pine. For the Lime House he used 450 feet of native lumber and 2000 feet of pine. Brickyard lumber, all pine came to 8000 feet. The lumber was apparently furnished by the College.

The following May (1866) the Building Committee spent $47.50 for lum­ber to repair the “Boarding Shanty.”⁶

During that summer brickmaking was continued under Mr. Banks, the foreman. He estimated upwards of 50,000 lost due to bad weather. A total of $3857.56 was expended for brick making in 1866. By the end of the season

The material for making the brick became quite scarce, sometimes the foreman despaired of being able to succeed in finding suitable clay accessible to the yard and had to haul it much farther than on the previous year. The brick made are of excellent quality and much superior the workmen say to those made the previous year.⁷

With all needed bricks made it was decided to close out the brickyard and a public sale to dispose of household goods used in the boarding house, tools and other articles. Bad weather on the appointed date of December 12 resulted in only a few potential buyers appearing. A few items were sold then and subsequently for a total of $119.30. The remainder of the goods and lumber were left in the hands of Mr. Owens to dispose of.

Thus ended the brickyard operations on the College farm.

The location of the brickyard cannot be established with certainty. In the January 1868 Board Minutes there is a reference to “15 or 16 acres of flat wetish land” northwest of the College and between that and the brickyard. It was earlier stated that the yard would be set up on land requiring timber to be cleared. Thus, it seems it would have been in the timber along Clear Creek, probably in what is now Pammel Woods. Positive identification can only be made if exploratory archeological excavations were undertaken. The evidence is undoubted­ly in the ground, but the end would probably not justify the cost or the damage to existing plant life in the area.

FIRE PROTECTION

The danger of fire was recognized early in the history of the college. In November 1868 the Board adopted a resolution “That the President be empowered to procure rope ladders and hooks and a sufficient quantity of hose to be used in case of fire.”⁸

In 1876, at the March 30-31 meeting, the Board ordered,

That the sum of $135.00 or so much there of as may be necessary be appropriated from Interest Fund for the purpose of purchasing a ladder, hooks, buckets, ropes, axes and a trumpet for the fire department of the College.

And it is further Ordered, that a fire company be organized under the direction of Gen. Geddes from among the students of the College, that said company shall drill not less than one hour per week, and for the time spent in such drill they shall receive a compensation to be fixed by the Industrial Committee, said compensation not to exceed the rate per hour paid for uninstructive labor, and the company shall at all times respond promptly to the usual fire sig­nal whatever that may be.

A fire drill was reported in the May 1883 issue of the Aurora.

Five hundred feet of rubber hose and two nozzles were purchased in 1896.⁹

Additional funds were provided in 1899. The April 18, 1899 ISC Student could report that “Fifteen hundred feet of hose and hook and ladder outfit have been ordered,” and the Minutes of the June Board meeting records that

Competitive bids were received on building for truck and hose­cart, and a building covered with corrigated [sic] iron has been erected at a cost of $166.33.

Prof. Beyer has charge of the department. 3 companies have been organized and arrangements made for practical drills…

The burning of the Experimental and Feeding Barns provoked this editor­ial in the ISC Student on October 26, 1901:

The need of more ample fire protection was again evidenced yester­day, when the station barn was destroyed by fire. The thousand feet of hose with which the college is equipped is entirely in­adequate to reach a fire so distant from the water plugs as the one yesterday. The need of efficient fire drill was again evident, although good work was done considering the means at hand. We would suggest that if no other means can be found to make time for drilling fire companies, that a part of the men be excused from military drill to take regular training in fire drills and fire protection. Almost the entire loss by fire yesterday could have been obviated had there been plenty of apparatus and twenty men who knew how to use it.

The following July the Board approved the expenditure of $900 “for ex­tension of water mains for fire protection at Station barn.”

In April 1905 it was reported to the Board that a dozen fire extinguishers had been purchased for $156 and that they had been “placed in different buildings under the direction of the President.”

The City of Ames was granted permission to erect a “hose house” on the southwest corner of the campus in 1911.¹⁰ A 1915 map of the campus includes an unidentified small structure at that location, but a 1921 map does not include it. The 1921 map does show a “hose house” slightly north of the Hub. This would have housed the college apparatus, not that of the city.

Following the burning of the Armory in December 1922, the ISC Student expressed the need for and importance of providing a fire department station in the Fourth Ward.

On February 7, 1923, the Iowa State Student reported that additional precautions against fire damages had been taken by the college:

Approximately $1500 has been spent by Iowa State for new fire fighting equipment, part of which has already arrived on the campus and been put in place, according to Herman Knapp, college treasurer.

Six new 30-gallon chemical trucks were purchased. These trucks, which are operated by hand, are chemical tanks mounted on two wheels. Forty feet of hose is attached to each. Five of the ve­hicles have already arrived and been put into position.

Two of the trucks are located at the lodges, one at Margaret Hall, one at the auto laboratory, and one at Agricultural Hall. The management has not decided where the sixth one will be located.

During the past week 50 new fire extinguishers have been put in place in the college buildings. In the little shed behind the book store are two fire trucks which have not been used for some time. One is a small hook and ladder truck, the other a hose cart. This equipment, according to Professor Knapp, is not in good condition, but is usable.

An item in the same paper two days later adds interest for the history of college equipment:

Iowa State has had fire fighting equipment but many of us did not know it. Two pieces of fire fighting apparatus, which are sta­tioned in the little red shed behind the book store, have been on the Iowa State campus so long that college officials do not re­member when they first made their appearance.

One of these implements is a two-wheeled hose cart–the kind that one sees in many of Iowa’s small towns. This spool with its rubber hose has been used twice during the past school year, at the experiment barn and the Armory.

A hook and ladder truck is the other vehicle which aids in making up the rest of the old flame extinguishing equipment. Along with one scaling, one extension and two second floor ladders are a rusty axe and a long pike pole.

“Iowa Agricultural College” is the name painted on the equipment which shows that these implements were first used many years ago.

Altho no course in fire fighting is offered at Iowa State, by using the old and new material which is now available on the campus, students may learn how to prevent small blazes from becoming dangerous, according to the plans of the college officials.

Another piece of fire-fighting equipment was added in October of that same year, as recorded in the student paper for October 8, 1923:

Iowa State has a valuable addition to its fire fighting equipment in the form of a new chemical truck. This truck is an American-­LaFrance type E body, mounted on a Ford one-ton chassis.

This truck is painted with the official fire department red, with black and white finishing lines. The chassis is a one-ton Ford with a wheel-base of 124 inches, capable of making a speed of thirty-five miles per hour; 30 x 3 ½ pneumatic tires are used on the front wheels and 32 x 4 ½ on the rear. The tires are mounted on demountable rims. The body is constructed of light wood, reinforced with steel rods. An eight-inch locomotive bell is mounted on the dash. An ordinary Ford lighting system is used, two extra lanterns being included in the outfit.

The compartment which holds a thousand feet of 2 ½ inch hose is under the chemical tanks, which have a capacity of twenty-five gallons each. The tanks are made of one-piece seamless steel, and in tests have withstood a pressure of 400 pounds per square inch. Beneath the tanks are drippans, which catch any chemicals that might drip down during the process of filling the tanks. Four fifty-foot lengths of ¾ inch four-ply hose make up the chemical hose equipment.

The nozzle of this hose cannot stick shut, insuring a free flow of chemicals at all times. The chemical hose basket holds 250 feet of this hose. Two non-corrosive receptacles, bolted to the running board, contain the extra acid, and two heavy sheet steel soda cannisters hold the extra soda.

The piping system is so arranged that one large tank can be filled from the smaller containers while the other large tank is being discharged, and plain water can be pumped through the large hose, if the supply of chemicals runs out. Two three-gallon extinguishers complete the chemical apparatus. An axe, with a pick head, a 36-inch crowbar, one 20-foot extension ladder, with rapid hoisting device, and a 12-foot solid roof ladder with folding hooks make up the new equipment for getting at fires in out-of-the way places.

The Laundry and Chemical Truck Building (later known as the Electric and Paint Shop) was built in 1924 and became the headquarters for the college fire apparatus. In 1930 the Iowa State Student noted that it housed “the college fire truck, which is manned by five students staying at the building during the night and by one of the carpenters in the shop next door during classes.”

An agreement between the Ames fire department and the college was entered into by Board action on January 19, 1925. It follows:

In case of fire on the campus of Iowa State College the College Department shall respond at once. When City Fire Department arrives, the Fire Chief of the City Department shall take active charge of both departments and issue all orders. In case our hose is connected to hydrant before the arrival of the City Fire Department, the Chief of the Ames Department can make whatever disposition he sees best of our men and materials.

In case of fire in the Business district of the fourth ward (out­side of College campus) the college fire truck shall respond to the call. The truck shall be stationed at a point near enough the fire so that the Fire Chief can get hose from the truck or order our men to use the chemicals. Our fire truck and men shall be at call of the Chief for anything he may want of us up to our capacity. In case College truck should be at fire first, they can use chemicals until Fire Chief arrives, when he will take full charge and give our men orders how to proceed. Fire trucks have right of way on streets going to fire but not returning.

In 1931 a new approach was taken to protection of the campus buildings and those in the west part of Ames when it was agreed to build a fire station under the west stadium bleachers. Costs of the new construc­tion and maintenance and operation of the unit would be shared by the college and the city. This arrangement proved satisfactory and was con­tinued until the city built its new substation on Welch Avenue in the fall of 1966. The university contributed to its construction and continues to make annual payments for its support.

Other fire protective steps have been taken to minimize danger to the campus community. Sprinkler systems have been installed, more fire hydrants have been placed about the campus, fire and smoke de­tectors and alarms have been put in a number of buildings and fire extinguishers have been generously located in all buildings.

FIRES

The gas house, which housed the equipment providing lights in Old Main, was the site of several early-day fires. The 1897 Bomb records the following incident among the entries for 1875:

One evening something was the matter with the gas meter. Prof. Thompson and Mr. Kimberly, with a lighted candle, went into the gas house to see what was the trouble. It appeared that the gas meter was leaking and filled the room with gas which instantly took fire from the candle. For a moment they were enveloped in a sheet of flame. Their faces and hands were badly burned but under the care of college physician, Dr. Hutchins, they speedily re­covered.

The Aurora, in June 1881, reported that lightning caused a fire in the gas house, but with minimal damage. Another blaze there occurred just two years later.

In 1885 the hog barn was destroyed by fire. It was not replaced until 1891.

A fire in one of the dormitory rooms in Main resulted in the loss of most of the furnishings and possessions of the occupants but it was confined to the one room.¹¹

Several fires not related to buildings were noted as having been caused from sparks from the railroad engine in the 1890’s.

Major fires have destroyed several campus buildings. These are dis­cussed under the individual buildings but are tabulated here for quick reference:

Other fires, less damaging than those listed above, have occurred from time to time in campus buildings. A number of the fires resulted from assumed or suspected acts of arson, but no one was ever apprehended as responsible.

FLAG POLES

When the first free-standing flag pole was set up on the campus cannot be determined, but there is an 1895 reference in the ISC Student to its having been blown down in a gale in 1889. The flag was also flown from the staff on top of the north tower of Old Main, probably only in the years when no campus pole existed.

A new replacement pole was erected in October 1895. It is described as one “whose timber was purchased in the state of Washington. It is one hundred and twenty feet above the ground.”¹² That flagpole was erected in central campus at almost the same location as the one standing now. It served the college until rotting of its base re­sulted in its fall and destruction in January 1903.

In September 1904 the Board appropriated $144 for the purchase of a new flagstaff. LaVerne Noyes (class of ‘72), Manager of Aermotor Windmill Works of Chicago, donated a steel windmill tower to serve as a flagstaff. Erected in November it was 133 feet high, set in con­crete. Reaction to the new structure came rapidly. An editor of the ISC Student, on November 26, wrote:

If there is one thing above all others that we feel inclined to talk about just now, it certainly is this new addition to what was once our campus but must now be known as our barnyard. Imagine, if it is possible, such a flagstaff for a state institution. Think how you will like to hear strangers say, “Yes, this is the agricultural college, for there is the windmill. Sure enough: and there are the cowpaths leading up to it.” Won’t a picture of cen­tral barnyard, pasture or ? look pretty now? Why, the short course men will say, “Where was the cyclone? It must have been a hard one to blow the entire wheel off your pumping machine.” To tell the plain truth, this is about the worst frost we have seen on campus this fall.

Only a day or two later the tower was torn down at night, and the edi­tor apologized November 30:

The editorial which appeared in the last issue of this paper was not intended to incite the student body or any portion of it to deeds of dare deviltry or acts that would lead to the destruction of college property. The intention was, however, to make the fact public that a sentiment was abroad to the effect that the tower under course of erection was unsuited for a flag pole on the college campus. This sentiment has not died, but notwithstanding there is a better way of making the wish of the students known than by violence and property destruction. We would suggest that in the future the use of a petition be resorted to instead of such hasty methods.

The individuals responsible for the end of the windmill tower were never identified. Whether a flag ever flew on its top is questionable.

Beardshear Hall (then Central Building) was completed in 1906, and the flag was flown from the staff above its east entrance.

A new steel flag pole was set up in March 1908.¹³ This was the gift of the class of 1907 with some help from the class of 1906. Located where the original wood pole had stood, it was 128 feet high and carried the American flag, and in later years the Iowa flag as well, until January 1974. After serving the campus for over sixty-six years it then succumbed to erosion and collapsed as it was being taken down for repairs.

A replacement came in June 1975 when an eighty-eight feet high aluminum pole was raised at the location of previous ones. This a counter­weighted pole that allows it to be tipped to the ground for repair or replacement of pulleys or lines. The national and state flags now fly daily above the cluster of trees in the middle of the campus.

In April 1979 a new flagpole was erected by the Memorial Union in the area between that building and the Parking Ramp. Funds for the pro­ject, including the pole, flag and landscaping, were donated for that purpose by the Veishea Central Committee.

The display of weather service flags was started by Captain James R. Lincoln; professor of military tactics, in the late 1880’s. In the Aurora of April 1888 it is reported that he “now dispenses weather tidings from the top of a most unbecoming staff, which has been erected near the tomb of ‘76, on the campus.”

In 1895 a staff was placed on Botany Hall (then Agricultural Hall) for the display of the weather signals.

Flagstaffs are also mounted on Marston and Curtiss Halls.

MEMORIALS and CLASS GIFTS

Over the years various people, classes and events have been recognized by the placement of memorial plaques or other types of markers about the campus. Names of buildings and streets, as well as houses in the residence halls, also are forms of memorials but these will not be in­cluded here. Where personal names have been given to buildings they are mentioned in the statements on the individual buildings elsewhere in this volume. Street names are similarly discussed in that section. For the residence hall house names refer to the works of J.C. Schilletter. Memorials in the form of tablets, fountains and other features inside of buildings are not discussed here.

Many individual classes have made gifts of one kind or another. Only those which are visible on the campus itself are included here. The office of the Alumni Association maintains a complete list of all class gifts.

The earliest memorial on record is the large boulder near the flag­pole, inscribed “Class 1876”. The bronze tablet, later mounted on the boulder and listing the names of the class members, was placed about 1925.

The class of 1891 erected a fountain, as recorded in the IAC Student on November 11, 1891:

The class of ‘91 leave a lasting and more pleasurable souvenir than any previous class. In the triangle, just between Main Building and Morrill Hall, it has erected a large, beautiful fountain. May its flowing waters ever keep the memories of Class ‘91 fresh in the minds of those following in its footsteps.

Less than two years later the paper complained in an editorial comment that “The fountain acts sick and needs attention these days”. On April 5, 1905, the ISC Student reported, “The fountain which has stood for so many years in front of the motor station and otherwise known as the ‘91 class memorial has been removed to the machine shop for refit­ting.” Whether the fountain was put in operation again after that time is uncertain. No later references to it have been found. The area between Central (Beardshear) and Morrill Hall was completely re­graded in 1907 and the fountain would definitely have been gone after that date if not earlier.

The Campanile, a memorial erected in 1897, is discussed under that heading in another section. The gift of the classes of 1906 and 1907 is included in the section entitled Flagpoles.

Concrete benches were provided by the class of 1916. The exact num­ber originally is uncertain. One later reference indicated “a dozen,” and another reference reports the loss of some through vandalism. Six can be found on the central campus today. Some of these still retain a small bronze plate on the top reading “Made by Industrial Arts Students Iowa State College.” The supports and the edges of the benches are decoratively treated.

At commencement on June 6, 1917, groups of trees on the central camp­us were dedicated to six highly respected former faculty members: Dr. A.S. Welch, Dr. William M. Beardshear, Dr. Seaman A. Knapp, Dr. Charles E. Bessey, Dr. Millikan Stalker and Prof. J.L. Budd. A seventh man, Dr. LaVerne Noyes, was also honored by having Lake La­Verne and trees at its west end dedicated to his memory. Another group of trees was dedicated to Dr. Edgar W. Stanton on June 10, 1923. The boulders and bronze tablets marking the tree groups were placed in the spring of 1925.

Three more sites were marked with bronze tablets in 1927. One marks the site where a picnic was held on July 4, 1859, celebrating the acquisition of the land for the new college. It is on the north side of Pammel Drive and south of the southwest corner of the Communica­tions Building. The second marker is in honor of W.T. Hornaday and his work as a zoologist and conservationist. The third tablet was placed at the Farmhouse where it incorrectly identifies that as “the site of the old tavern and trail through Story County in pioneer days.” (See discussion of Farmhouse)

The classes of 1920 through 1923 joined in funding the construction of the columns at the west entrance to the campus at Sheldon Avenue and Union Drive. The adjacent gates to Clyde Williams Field were the gift of W.G. Lane ‘09 in 1938.

The largest memorial on the campus is the Memorial Union which is separately discussed in the section on buildings. Various class and other gifts have been made to the interior of the building. The Scotch pines to the south of the building are dedicated to the men whose lives were lost in World War I.

A bronze tablet “In memory of Benjamin F. Gue, founding farther of Iowa State College, March 22, 1858” was given by the class of 1923. It is in the northwest section of central campus.

Two granite benches flanking the east doorway of the Library were the gift of the class of 1906 on that class’ 50th anniversary. Three granite benches in the north part of central campus mark the 50th an­niversary contribution of the class of 1910.

A bronze tablet and associated grove of trees was dedicated to the memory of Henry Cantwell Wallace ‘92, in 1929.

A marker on a boulder on the north side of Lake LaVerne reads:

The original swans “Sir Lancelot and Elaine”, on Lake Laverne were presented during Veishea of Nineteen Hundred Thirty Five to Iowa State College by the students of Iowa State who sup­ported Veishea during its first fourteen years.

In 1937 two more groups of trees on central campus were dedicated. One of these honors Prof. L.H. Pammel, “dedicated by his fellow con­servationists.” The second remembers W.R. Wynn who was a revered faculty member from 1872 to 1900. Prof. Pammel is also honored with the designation of Pammel Woods and Pammel Drive.

The contribution of Iowa State and Dr. H.F. Spedding to the develop­ment of uranium for the war effort in 1942-46 is recognized by a bronze tablet on a boulder just east of the Food Technology Building on the site where a temporary building served as headquarters for that operation.

The MacDonald Forest (or Woods), a seven-acre tract on the east side of the Skunk River about a half mile north of 13th Street, was do­nated to the college in 1954 by the alumni of the forestry depart­ment in memory of the former head of that department, Professor G.B. MacDonald.

In recognition of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the college the class of 1958 made a special presentation. This was called a “time capsule” – a copper box filled with current letters and publications about the centennial and ongoing activities. The box, encased in concrete below a granite bench inscribed “Class of 1958” is on the south side of the front steps to Beardshear Hall. A plaque on the concrete under the bench reads:

On the 100th anniversary of Iowa State the class of 1958 has here below sealed historical documents to be opened by the class of 2058.

The plaza on the west side of the Computer Science Building is a 50th anniversary gift of the class of 1919. A plaza built in 1979 between Marston and Pearson Halls was funded by the class of 1969.

POST OFFICES and MAIL SERVICE

The early history of post offices and mail service on campus is not well documented. William G. Allen¹⁴ noted:

About 1861 or ‘62 W.R. Fitchpatrick was appointed post-master at “College Farm” but resigned in 1864, and A.J. Graves suc­ceeded him. While Mr. Graves was acting the office was moved to Ames and the name of the office, in accordance. The first post-master in Ames was Henry F. Kingsbury, in 1865.

For the balance of the nineteenth century the only post office was in Ames. Mail was received at the Ames office and delivered to the college by horse-drawn vehicle.

In May 1889 the Board moved to request the Post Office Department to establish a post office on the campus, and that fall requested an appropriation of $800 for an addition to the (English) Office Build­ing “for accommodation of Post Office, to furnish committee rooms and college guest rooms”.

Presumably prior to construction of that addition all mail had been delivered to Main. The Biennial Report for 1890-91 records that “Our present room for post-office, book room for students, etc., is in an out-of-the-way place, and entirely too small, so that it should be changed at the earliest convenience.” That space in the Office Building was referred to as the post office but it was not yet an official postal sub-station.

When the Ames and College railway started operation in the fall of 1891 that company was granted the franchise to carry mail and express destined to and from the college. The station (Hub) built for the rail line the following year included facilities for the post office and an express office as well as the waiting room for passengers.

In 1903 the first official sub-station, known as College Station or Station A, was established by agreement between the Post Office De­partment and the College. It began operation on June 1, with Clayton Paxton, a former student, in charge.

Later that same year the Board authorized the initiation of messenger services instead of the U.S. mail for the transmission of inter office correspondence. This action was prompted by an estimated saving of $160 per year.¹⁵

Compensation for messenger service was increased in 1909, to author­ize payment to the mail boy of “30 cents per day for July and August and 40 cents per day during the remainder of the year”.

In 1904 the ISC Student noted that the “Dinkey” no longer carries the college mail. “It is now hauled to and from college by a team.”

When the station was moved in 1908 to its location west of Morrill Hall the paper reported “It is now thoroughly rearranged inside giving much more room to the bookstore and the post office.”

By 1915 Station A was feeling growing pains as reported in an article dated January 23 in the Iowa State Student:

WANTED--A NEW POST OFFICE

“We are doing a city business here at Station A,” says Benton Stull, “and I don’t know of a single post office that tries to get along under conditions similar to ours. These old boxes were shipped here years ago from Carroll where they were dis­carded for more up to date ones. We are cramped terribly for room!”

It’s about time this flourishing United States government looked into matters around Station A. Does anyone know of a post office that is serving as many individuals, to say nothing of an insti­tution like the college, whith as little equipment as our medieval relic? It keeps three carriers busy constantly carrying the mail about the campus and the Fourth ward, the outgoing mail is enor­mous, the bulletin room sending out as high as twenty mail sacks full in one day, and then the parcel post,–did you ever notice the people strolling into Station A with stuffed laundry bags and suitcases to mail “to the folks?” There are hundreds of them. It often requires a dozen mail sacks a day to hold this class of mail matter alone.

Mr. Stull says he known he is not giving the students and resi­dents here the proper service but it is the best that can be done until Uncle Sam can afford a larger building and better equip­ment.–H.C.P.

Later that year a new agreement with the Post Office Department re­sulted in improvements to the equipment and an increase in the rental paid to the College.¹⁶ The new equipment was described in the Iowa State Student on September 18, 1915:

Improvements valued in the neighborhood of $2,000 have been made in the college postoffice, doubling the efficiency of the office and making it a comparatively easy matter to handle the greatly increased amount of mail that comes and goes from the college students.

Four hundred fifty-three modern lock boxes have been installed, the best on the market, according to Postmaster Stull. New filing cases, desks and other office equipment have been put in. Still other t~me saving articles are a distributing case for railroad mail and an up-to-date cancelling machine. A stamping machine is expected to arrive soon.

Three clerks and three carriers are now requii~ed to handle the business. Individual lockers have been provided for the carriers and they have also been equipped with new mail bags.

This office with its new equipment has been rented to the United States postoffice department for $700 a year.

Identity appeared to be a problem as judged by the following item in the paper on October 28, 1915:

In compliance with the terms of the contract in which the govern­ment leased the college postoffice building, a bright new sign has appeared on the little red building north of Central Hall.

Postmaster Stull said that many newcomers on the campus wondered where the postoffice was located, and as the building is not pre­tentious enough to command attention, the sign was put up.

Motor power in lieu of horses reached the mail service operation in October 1917 as somewhat humorously reported in the Iowa State Student on the 6th of that month:

When an ambitious young barn on wheels sallied forth to air its new gray paint for the first time, the general enquiry was “who’s hurt”? But the observant few who watched its graceful bulk lurch and halt before the various halls identified it as the new mail truck. It is the herald of better speed and service among us, but is at present decapacitated by a broken axle and has been temporarily replaced with a very common affair without any gray paint or any top. The new truck is a Ford, partially disguised by a somewhat roofy top construction to protect the mail and deliverer when the weather is bad. It has a driver and official carrier, and covers Ames as well as the campus and college com­munity ….The first trip is made at 7:30 and service has been found very prompt. When it has demonstrated its efficiency, and people realize it is not an ambulance and cease to ask where they are moving it, no doubt the Ford curiosity will be duly appreciated and hailed as an indispensible minister to public satisfaction.

An Addition was made to the building in 1920 to increase the space available for both the post office and the bookstore.¹⁷

By 1937 interoffice mail was a major problem on the campus as seen in this account appearing in the Daily Iowa State Student on February 4 of that year.

Imagine a 5-mile jaunt around the campus each day in addition to walking to and from classes. Whether the weather is incle­ment or mild that distance is traveled each day by James Lien, A.H. Sr., and Fred Bergmeyer, For. So. in delivering the campus mail.

The campus mail system, which is not affiliated in any manner with the United States mails, was originated a number of years ago by the late Herman Kanpp, then treasurer of the college. Until 1930 the volume was comparatively small and deliveries were made during the noon hour but since that time the mail has been carried by two college students, each working half the day.

In delivering the 400,000 pieces of campus mail each calendar year these student carriers make two trips of 2 ½ miles each day, making a total of four deliveries a day to the college buildings. The United States mail distributed from Station A to the buildings on the campus is approximately twice the volume of that of the campus system.

The student mail carriers maintain a definite schedule of delivery between the 30 college buildings which comprise the route. Start­ing from Morrill Hall, the college-trained mailmen travel over the western side of the campus, then up to the northern edge, over to the east side and finish at the starting point approxi­mately 2 hours later.

While it is comparatively simple, the campus system is quite fast. As deliveries are made at each station, the outgoing mail is picked up, sorted in the carrier’s mailbag, and delivered to the other stations along the route.

A proposal by the federal government to erect a new building to house Station A and offices for other governmental agencies came to the Board at its meeting on November 22, 1939. To enable this project to proceed it was the responsibility of the college to provide an accept­able site for the proposed building. Three possible sites were con­sidered. The northeast corner of Lincoln Way and Welch Avenue was selected and deeded to the federal government in February 1940. How­ever, defense projects starting that year delayed work on the new building and the project was ultimately abandoned. In 1963 title to the property was returned to the State.

The war had its effect on mail delivery on the campus as reported in the Iowa State Daily Student on April 22, 1944:

The manpower shortage has made it impossible to continue de­livery of campus mail to individual offices, J.F. Hall, chief accountant, explained.

It is now necessary for a representative of each building to bring correspondence from that building to Beardshear Hall and to pick up and deliver any mail for his own building.

A sorting station similar to the one outside Room 103, Beardshear Hall, is located in each building. Correspondence is exchanged between the central station and offices at least twice a day.

When regular carriers worked, the mail deliveries were made four times every day. College students were usually employed to carry the business correspondence of the college, picking up the mail pieces, sorting and de’tivering on the route.

The present system is purely an experiment born of necessity and may be discontinued shortly, providing some means is found of making the regular delivery, Hall stated.

In June 1945 deliveries were resumed as explained in the paper on the 6th of that month:

Campus secretaries will be relieved from daily’treks to Beard­shear Hall with the resumption of campus mail delivery this week.

The manpower shortage has prevented intra-campus service since March, when the last mail carrier left, states B.H. Platt, col­lege business manager. Student part-time workers handled the Job before the war, one working in the morning and one in the after­noon, but since the war’s outbreak one full-time carrier has been employed.

Duane Raver, Jr., is the new mailman. He will continue the work during the summer months.

The Hub was still the center of U.S. mail service for the campus in 1959 and its activities were described in the Iowa State Daily on February 21:

Once the scene of bustling activity, the old brown building on central campus near Beardshear Hall, which housed the College bookstore, now receives fewer students within its walls. But it still is full of action. Every day, the mail enters and leaves the post office.

The post office is staffed by a Superintendent and two clerks. Eight carriers get letters to their destination on campus by foot. There is one rural route carrier from this station.

In seven of the eight routes, the carrier handles approximately 1800 pieces of mail per day. An average of 2500 pieces of mail are delivered by the carrier on the office building route.

This station handles all college mail. It is received from the post office in Ames. The only mail delivered directly from the Ames Post Office to the campus is that delivered to the dormi­tories. No difference has been made in the amount of business done in the post office since the removal of the bookstore. The only noticeable effect has been the quiet that has settled over the building.

In 1960 the Post Office Department decided to erect a new building for Station A on an off-campus site on Welch Avenue. Construction began in 1963 and the new facility was opened for use later that year.

The Post Office Department, in 1968, proposed erecting a self-service postal unit to be located on the campus for the convenience of the uni­versity community. This was suggested as a free-standing structure accessible from the outside only. That idea was not developed and in­stead a comparable type unit was installed on the ground floor of the Memorial Union.

Today both U.S. and campus mail is handled by the University Mail Service, a unit of the Physical Plant, with twice-daily delivery and pick-up to a distribution box in most buildings on the campus. 127

RADIO and TELEVISION
WOI - AM-FM - TV

A “Wireless telegraph station” was operating on the campus in 1913, with Prof. A.H. Hoffman in charge of it.¹⁸ On November 23, 1915, the Iowa State Student noted that “new wireless receiving apparatus is bei~g installed by the college on the new steam laboratory chim­ney” while “the ol~ apparatus will be used to send messages.” The messages being sent at that time included weather reports.

The start of station WOI came in 1922, with the first broadcast on May 31 and the beginning of regular programs on July 1. At that time the station was operating on a 100 watt transmitter which was increased to 500 watts in 1924. The first studios were on the third floor of Engineering Annex. In October 1924, “Besides the regular program of crop and weather reports, the management are endeavoring to broadcast two musical programs weekly, one program consisting of classical music and one of dance music.” The station was then in charge of Professor H.B. Deal with the musical programs in charge of Professor Tolbert MacRae.¹⁹

A new antenna tower was built in late 1938 and early 1939 with the first broadcast from it in late March 1939. The tower was located north of Pammel Drive and east of the Communications Building where the lower portion still remains in place. The tower was described in the November 15, 1938, Iowa State Daily Student:

Construction was begun Thursday on the new 400-foot WOI radio tower which will be located just west of the polo field. The J.E. Lovejoy Company, Des Moines, was awarded the contract for the erection of the tower with a bid of $8,174.

The project is being financed in part by a PWA grant for 45 per­cent of the costs. The total cost will be approximately $11,000, according to W.E. Stewart, chief engineer of WOI, and the work will require 2 ½ months for completion.

The tower is triangular in shape measuring 22 feet on each side at the base. It will stand on reinforced concrete piers. The steel frame is fabricated in 20 foot sections which will be hoisted into position and welded in place,

To comply with regulations of the United States Bureau of Air Commerce, a beacon to flash 40 times a minute will be mounted at the top of the tower. Additional stationary lights will out­line the shape of the structure.

George Weiler, ‘73, Indianola, is the contractor in charge of the installation of the electric wiring. The length of the co­axial transmission line from the studio in Engineering Annex to the new antenna will be over 2100 feet.

The ground system, composed of 100 wires spreading fanlike from the base of the tower, will require more than 9 miles of wire, according to Chief-engineer Stewart. Special equipment to be used in burying the grounds will eliminate digging trenches, Stewart stated.

Although no guy wires will be used for support, the new tower is designed to withstand a wind velocity of 90 miles per hour.

Studios were moved to Snedecor Hall in the fall of 1939.

Planning for a television studio was mentioned in the student paper on November 20, 1945, where L.L. Lewis, chief engineer of WOI was quoted as saying “It is all a vision of the future now, but there is concrete evidence that this future is not far off. 11

A new transmitter building and FM antenna were erected on the Swine Research Farm (about four miles southwest of the campus) in 1949. The first FM broadcast from the new facility was on July 1, 1949. The 580 feet high tower was planned to support a television antenna as well as the FM antenna.

TV broadcasting was started on February 21, 1950. WOI-TV became the first television station owned and operated by an educational institu­tion. The first “live” TV program was broadcast on September 30, 1950.

In 1952 the television studios were moved to Exhibit Hall. Transmission of AM programs was changed to the FM-TV tower in 1960 and the follow­ing year the campus antenna was dismantled except for the lower 139 feet.

When the Communications Building was completed in 1964 all WOI-AM-FM-TV facilities, except the transmitter, were moved to that location.

SCULPTURE

PETERSEN WORKS

Christian Petersen, a native of Denmark, came to Iowa State on a Civil Works Administration project in March 1934. In 1937 he was appointed to the faculty as an instructor in applied art, and in 1944 he became an assistant professor. He was also designated artist­in-residence. He continued teaching until 1955 when he had reached the age of seventy. He remained on the faculty on a part-time basis and continued to use his studio in the Quadrangle until his death, at age 76, in 1961.

The project which brought Petersen to Ames for the first time is de­scribed in the March 1, 1934, edition of the Iowa State Student:

Grant Wood, state director of art projects under the CWA, and Christian Petersen, director of projects in sculpture, will come to Iowa State College on Friday to collect data for the planning of art projects in Dairy Industry Building in connection with the CWA work.

Following are listed the major works by Petersen on the Iowa State campus.

Bas-relief panels in the lobby and in the courtyard of Dairy Industry Building. 1934-35.

Bas-relief panels on the north side of State Gymnasium. 1935-36.

Veterinary Medicine sculptured mural, originally in the Quadrangle courtyard but now facing the entrance plaza at the Veterinary Medi­cine Facilities building; and “The Gentle Doctor”, also originally in the Quadrangle but now in Scheman Continuing Education Building. 1936-38.

Bas-relief figures at sides of fountain on east side of Roberts Hall. 1940.

Indian Figures on the four sides of the fountain in front of the Mem­orial Union. 1940-41.

Fountain south of MacKay Hall. Three small children. 1942.

Statue of a male and a female student on the sides of the main steps inside the original section of the Library. 1943-44.

Small statue (about four feet high) of George Washington Carver 1 94, in lobby of Carver Hall. 1943.

Typical students –three groups of statues depicting students of the period. Sculpted between 1945 and 1952, the figures, all life size, and the wall on which they rest, were not erected on the campus until 1961. They are located south of Oak and Elm Halls.

Other smaller examples of Petersen’s work exist on the campus inside various buildings.

OTHER SCULPTURE

An abstract sculpture “End All War”, located in an interior court of Physics Hall, is the work of Peter Layton and was purchased by dona­tions of individual members of the Physics department. 1967.

South of Ross Hall is a large steel-plate stabile sculpture called “Prairie Teton”. The design, by sculptor Frederic Rennels, was selected from about thirty entries in a competition after funds were provided for a monument to honor Earle D. Ross, earlier on the history faculty at Iowa State. It was erected in 1975.

SIGNS

The desire for public recognition of the college by means of an identi­fying sign seems to have been first expressed at the Board meeting of December 11-14, 1894, when a motion was made and carried

that there be placed upon the Experiment barn a conspicuous sign, lettered in bold characters upon both sides, one facing the motor track, the otfier to the north, this inscription, “I.A.C. Experi­ment Barn”, and that the cost of said inscription and ornament be paid for out of the Station funds under the supervision of the Director of the Station.

The sign on the north side would have been visible to passengers on the Chicago and North Western trains, while the one on the south would be seen by people riding on the “Dinkey”. Those signs were, of course, lost when the barn was destroyed by fire in 1901.

When the next sign was put up has not been determined, but in November 1910 the I.S.C. Student reported that the veterinary buildings were to be erected “west of the ‘Iowa State College’ sign”. In 1911 a reference in the paper was.made to the “dilapidated sign” and ex­pressed concern that its condition would give train passengers a false impression of the college. On December 18, 1911, the paper stated:

We understand on reliable authority that the present dilapidated sign is soon to be taken down and replaced by a much more attrac­tive structure. The sign will be located nearer the railroad track. The posts will b~ set in cement and the whole structure will be electrified. The work will be done just as soon as weather conditions permit.

Two years elapsed before more is learned about the sign. On November 11, 1913, the ISC Student records that

The Iowa State College sign, torn down two years ago is to be replaced ….The sign will be put up again, but will not be elec­trified.

It is also proposed to place various signs on the different ex­perimental plots lying along the Northwestern tracks, telling of the nature of the work being carried on.

Apparently further delays developed. The next reference to the sign did not appear until May 1, 1915, when it was said

A large electric sign advertising Iowa State college is being erected in the pasture east of the serum plant and facing the Northwestern tracks. The letters are four feet high and are wired. The sign reads “Iowa State College”, and is being put up at the suggestion of the college advertising committee. It is reported that many inquiries are made on trains going east and west, regarding the name of the institution. It is estimated that several hundred thousand people will read the sign during the year. Transcontinental tourists to and from the Pacific coast fairs will know where and what Iowa State College is.

The next notice about that sign appeared in the November 7, 1923 issue of the Iowa State Student:

Along the side of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad tracks, across the road from the Vet buildings, stands a huge sign, “Iowa State College”. It is well up in the air and passengers, travel­ing in the day tim~ can see the sign easily.

The expenditure of a few additional dollars would equip the sign with electric lights and the upkeep cost in keeping them lighted during the night would be small in comparison with the additional hundreds who would be able to see the sign.

When that sign was lighted and when not becomes difficult to determine on the basis of the p~eceding items from the papers. No subsequent reports have been found and it is not possible to say when the sign was ultimately removed.

A sign identifying the college was apparently erected on Lincoln Way sometime prior to 1941 because on October 10 of that year the Iowa State Daily Student carried this article:

This corner has heard several remarks lately, most of them coming from the alumni, about the removal of the IOWA STATE COLLEGE con­crete sign on the east side of the campus.

A majority of these remarks have been criticisms, especially o­pinions voiced by alumni members. Seems as though they were im­pressed by the white letters against a green background when driving out on Lincoln Way from downtown Ames. They feel the identification made a favorable impression on travelers and visi­tors. And, of course, there’s the sentimental reason which carries a lot of weight in voicing opinions.

We can see why the sign should have been removed; it was old and getting a bit shabby, but we feel another such identification would add to the college and make the alumni feel more at home.

A point we’d like to make clear is we’re not criticizing the col­lege for removing the old letters; we merely believe another identification mark –modern and more appropriate –would be an asset. Everyone passing by on Lincoln way doesn’t know the name of our college, and we don’t mind telling everybody this is IOWA STATE COLLEGE, the home of the Cyclones.

No other references to that particular sign have been found.

The senior class of 1949 made a gift to the college of four signs as described in an account in the Iowa State Daily on May 25, 1949:

“Iowa ,State College” signs will be placed at the four Lincoln way entrances to the campus before the close of the current school year..They are being placed there as the Class of ‘49 Memorial according to Neil Berndt, E. Sr., chairman of the Sen­ior Class Memorial Committee.

The signs will bear the name and official seal of Iowa State as well as words signifying they were erected by the Class of ‘49. They will also say to where the entrance leads.

Signs will be made of cast aluminum, according to Berndt. They will be 30 inches wide and 42 inches high. The lettering will be raised and will be on a black background. They will be given an aluminite treatment which is a process that will keep the letters bright without polishing, according to Berndt.

The signs, which will be lettered on both sides, will be sus­pended from steel poles and will be perpendicular to Lincoln way so that they will be readable from both directions. The bottoms of the signs will be about 7 and one-half fe’et from the ground.

According to Berndt, the lettering indicating where the various entrances lead will be as follows: Beech avenue entrance, “Women’s Residence and Veterinary Medicine”, women’s dormitory entrance which goes by Roberts Hall, “Agriculture and Home Economics”, Memo­rial Union entrance from Lynn avenue, “Memorial Union, Administra­tion, and Science”, and the Friley Hall entrance from Welch avenue, “Men’s Residence and Engineering”.

The gift of the signs was accepted by President Friley at a special ceremony on June 14, 1949. After the college became the university those signs were out-moded and they were replaced by new signs reading “Iowa State University. Founded 1858. Presented by the class of 1949”. The new signs are located at the corner of Lincoln Way and Sheldon Avenue and at Lincoln Way and Wallace Road.

Street signs, identifying the streets by name, were installed at thirty street intersections on the campus in 1958. Before that little attention had been given to the use of street names although the desig­nations had been made some years earlier.

Signs showing names of buildings are varied in materials, styles and locations. Many buildings have no indication of the structure’s identity or use.

During the late nineteen sixties and the seventies various studies and proposals for campus signs have been developed. The need for signs is clear: to provide information to the public and to the campus community as well. No program to achieve uniformity and consistancy in types of signs has yet been approved.

STORMS, FLOODS and CYCLONES

Iowans are accustomed to harsh weather and, except when it results in damage, accept it as a part of normal life in the state. The first reference to weather found in the student paper appeared in the Aurora in May 1880:

The weather has furnished a fruitful topic of conversation this spring; much of the time it has been dry, windy, and cold. There has been one storm, however, as those rooming in the tower can testify. The night of April 19th, the rain fell in torrents, accompanied by wind, hail, and lightning. It beat into the south tower so badly as to leak through the ceilings, down to the sec­ond floor.

The following year again brought its troubles. In May lightning struck the gas house and started a fire which was soon brought under control. In July a storm resulted in the loss of a chimney on the Chemical Laboratory. In August the Aurora records that “terrible storms and great extremes of heat and cold are making 1881 a year to be remembered0 , and “All around the farm are to be seen the marks of the recent floods. Bridges and fences are gone, and all along the banks of the creek are mounds of debris.”

On April 8, 1882, a cyclone struck across the campus as reported in the Aurora:

After completely demolishing the house occupied by Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy, residing about three-fourths of a mile south from the college, and injuring them quite seriously, it then removed a few of the chimneys on the President’s new house and entered the college campus from the south side making sad havoc of all that was before it.

The first that fell victims to its angry fervor was the aprons and floor of the new bridge, which were lifted bodily from th’eir foundation, leaving the frame work of the bridge undisturbed, and were carried from 8 or 10 rods to the hill north of it, where it plowed a deep furrow into the hillside. The South Hall, now temporarily occupied py Prof. Bessey as a dwelling, and in which Mrs. Welch had her Domestic Economy Laboratory and recitation room was next visited and partially destroyed by having its walls blown down, windows smashed in and chimneys removed. It then seemingly divided, one portion promiscuously tearing up the trees about the lawn, blowing off the chimneys to Prof. Budd’s house and partially destroying the Horticultural barn, while the other portion blew the top and body of the bus which was within 50 rods of the college over into the evergreens together with its pas­sengers numbering not less than 10 or 12, among whom were Mrs. Prof. Bessey receiving slight injuries in the face, and Mr. Connell having three of his ribs broken and sustaining other internal injuries which have left him in a very critical condi­tion. It next visited the college, borke up the chapel exercise, smashed a few of the window lights, destroyed the railing on the south tower, removed a few chimneys and then passed to the North Hall, where it joined hands with its fellow and completely ruined the upper part of this large and beautiful brick building.

The damage is estimated to be from $2500 to $3000. Active steps are being taken to replace the buildings in their former condition. The debris is being removed and operation will commence at once.

This provided the first recorded occasion on which the Board requested contingency funds from the State Executive Council.²⁰

Flooding in May of 1892²¹ was severe:

The heaviest floods of this rainy season came on May 18th. Squaw creek reached the highest point for several years covering the adjacent college fields and inflicting sertous damage to the motor track. The greatest damage there was done by the waves which were caused by a strong northwest wind. The flood broke through the levee near the wagon road between Ames and the col­lege in such a way as to be deflected upon the road in the form of a whirl-pool which washed out a hole eighty feet in diameter and thirty feet deep, occupying the place of the road. The mo­tor was unable to run during the day, and trains on the north and south line of the C. & N. W. were delayed for several hours south of Ames. Notwithstanding the inclement weather nearly all students visited the scene of the flood during the day.

The Aurora £or May 1893 records problems that year:

The high winds during the first week of April blew over the top of the smoke stack to the furnace that furnishes steam for Mor­rill Hall. During the blizzard of the week of April 22, the smoke stack was completely demolished.

Squaw Creek flooded from time to time. One example was recorded in the ISC Student on June 2, 1903:

During the last week the heavy rains have flooded Squaw Creek until all the lowlands bordering the creek, some places a half mile on each side have been under water. Much damage has been done to the college, as much of its corn land lies next to the creek.

A blizzard in late January 1909 caused some damage to the Marston Hall roof and in other areas.²²

It was 1944 before another major storm was reported. That one was recorded in the Iowa State Daily Student on May 23, of that year:

Professors lectured in semi-darkness and Daily Student reporters typed by candlelight yesterday as a partial power shutdown on the campus extinguished lights in many buildings.

Only a few buildings were adequately supplied with power and the street lights were in operation as a result of damage to auxilliary equipment in the basement of the power plant. Service was expected to return to normal today with repair of a motor soaked in Friday’s storm. Meanwhile partial service was supplied by a small generator not dependent on the damaged motor.

Both Thursday’s and Friday’s storms were classified as 100-year rains, not likely to happen oftener than once in a century, by Prof. A. Englehorn, of the Agricultural Experiment Station. The odds against two 100-year rains coming within the same week or even year are astronomical, he said.

The storm Friday night reached the greater intensity, with an average of ½ inch of rainfall every 15 minutes during the first hour. Thursday’s rainfall reached its height between 9 and 11 p.m., when almost 3 inches fell.

The weekend’s rainfall total reached 8.37 inches. Thursday’s storm was the heaviest, 4.53 inches with Friday’s total of 3.68 not far behind. A J16 inch rain fell Saturday. Yesterday’s rainfall was estimated unofficially at .85.

Chemistry, Science, Home Economics and Dairy Industry Buildings as well as the College Hospital were among the few buildings adequately supplied with power. A limited amount was made avail­able to the Memorial Union and to the newsroom in Agricultural Annex for its teletype machine. The Library had lights in its stacks again, and college business office accounting machines were operating.

Navy and college dormitories had lighted halls, parlors, kitchens and dining-rooms. Students dragged chairs and desks from darkened rooms to study in the dimly lighted halls.

Supplied with enough power for two linotype machines and one press but not enough for lighting, the Daily Student was put out by candlelight last night.

Under water for several hours, the motor on a pump which sup­plies water to the generator condenser had to be sent to Des Moines for drying and rewinding. Its return wili make service normal again except for the farm line. Buildings and Grounds staff members have not yet located the cause of the rural power failure.

Although power for the naval Diesel laboratories was cut off, the navy men set up their own engines and generators, keeping the laboratories well supplied.

There never was a general power shut-down on the campus, Platt emphasized, although “we came pretty close to it”. All water pumps for the campus water system are out of commission, and campus faucets and fountains now are operating on city water.

Storm damage on the campus was not great in dollars and cents, Platt said. Property loss was slight despite flooded basements and washouts along Squaw Creek and Lake Laverne. The latter over­flowed i’ts banks Friday night, covering the street north of it with almost 4 feet of water.

Stokers and oil burners in fraternity houses now occupied by women will require servicing before they can be operated again. Although the loss of heat presents no problem, many women are inconvenienced by lack of hot water, he said.

Cinder path traffic was curtailed Friday night when the storm destroyed the footbridge. Water covered fenceposts on the col­lege golf course Friday and rose still higher Saturday.

Water reached a depth of 10 feet in the power plant’s deepest pump pit with 3 feet of water throughout the remainder of the basement.

Yesterday 22 college telephones still were out of order. Only inter-office communication was possible on college extension phones Saturday morning, but the damaged trunk lines which cut the college, navy and highway commission extensions from the Bell Telephone Company office were repaired Sunday morning.

The disaster was the worst ever to strike the Ames company, they reported. Water in the cables left 1,500 Ames telephones out of order Saturday, and, although the cables were repaired Sunday, 200 phones still were not functioning yesterday afternoon. The company hoped to have service normal again by the end of the week, but weather conditions were considered the controlling factor.

Fire trucks were called to the Dairy Industry Building at mid­night Sunday when a transformer burned out. “There was a lot of smoke but no fire,” Platt reported.

Radio Station WOI suffered principally from lack of illumination. Station engineers wired up makeshift generators so that announcers could read their scripts, Edward Wegener, acting production mana­ger, reported.

Damage to underground cables for campus broadcasts outside the studio made transmission of Sunday’s concert impossible. Connec­tions also were poor for Saturday’s baseball game. The cable to the newsroom still is in bad shape, Wegener said.

A windstorm on May 5, 1950 was the cause of damage recorded in the Iowa State Daily the next day:

Winds raging through the Ames area, yesterday, reaching at times a velocity of 100 miles per hour, knocked out power lines, ripped branches from trees and peeled shingles from roofs causing con­siderable property damage on the campus and in Ames.

On the campus, Ben Schaefer, physical plant director, reported extensive damage to trees and temporary buildings. Large trees next to the bookstore, the Campanile, Lake LaVerne and Barton hall were twisted off and bowled over by the raging winds. The doors of temporary buildings D, C, E, and H, and a door of Friley hall were damaged.

The college greenhouses suffered extensive damage to glass in the tropical greenhouse and general damage to the rest of the houses.

In Pammel Court the roofs of two of the communal washhouses were torn off, telephone booths and wires were blown down and metal and asphalt roofs were loosened by the gale. The roof of Harriman Cottage next to the college hospital was loosened and many windows were blown out.

Reimbursement to the college from the contingency account in the amount of $3720 resulted from damage in that storm.

An electrical storm resulted in a $2000 replacement cost to the Memorial Union for damage to carved stone blocks when the northwest corner of the building was struck by lightning on June 12, 1961.

The Board Minutes record damage to university property as the result of wind storms in May and June 1963 and again in July of 1964, mostly on farm structures away from the main campus.

A storm on June 18, 1974, resulted in total damages exceeding $470,000, most of the cost at the Ankeny Research Station.· The major damage on the campus was to the Horticulture Greenhouse which had to be almost completely rebuilt.

Heavy rains in June 1975 brought another flood to Squaw Creek which resulted in flooding of much of the Iowa State Center area with con­siderable damage in the mechanical room of Scheman Continuing Edu­cation Building, then just approaching completion.

VICTORY BELL

The first bell at the college was placed on old Main, as recorded in the report of the Building Committee for 1868 wherein it is entered: “A bell has been procured and is now in the belfry. Cost in pla.ce $184.11.”²³

In June 1876 The Aurora recorded that “The college bell is to be re­moved to the west side of the building.” That bell cracked and in 1890 was replaced by a new one, weighing 850 pounds.²⁴

Those bells were first used to mark the time of routine events of the day: time to get up, meals, chapel, classes, lights out. They were also tolled vigorously in the event of a fire in a campus build­ing.

When old Main burned the shelter and bell standing just west of the building remained intact. After the Campanile was built and its chimes installed the old bell no longer served its original needs except in the event of fire.

The first reference found to the term “Victory Bell” appeared in the I.S.C. Student on September 17, 1912, although that article was so written that it seems the term had been in use for some time because it implies the ringing of the bell “only upon occasion of an inter­collegiate victory and never any other” was one of the “customs or traditions of the college”.

Suggestions to move the bell and its housing were recorded in 1923­-24, 1954 and 1955.

In 1931 a campaign to obtain funds –nickels –from students was successful as a means of financing a much-needed new paint job for the tower. The housing received replacement of some rotten timbers and a re~shingling of the roof in 1955.

The Victory Bell was moved to a new frame mounting at the new stadium in 1976 where it still is rung for Iowa State victories. The old housing was subsequently razed.