Only the quick actions of a Sophomore walking through the Yard at 3:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon prevented a fire from consuming a large portion of the wooden scaffolding of the new rare book library.

The conflagration apparently started from an incinerator and had been in progress for about half an hour without being noticed when John R. M. Klotz '43 discovered smoke emerging from the construction work. He quickly grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and, with the help of several Yard cops, put out the blaze.

"It's darn lucky I was there," declared Klotz last night. "I would have hated to see all that construction work go to waste. Even Widener may have burned up except for me."