HARVARD'S EXPANSION

The Cambridge which greets the returning student this September wears an aspect quite different from that which bid him good by last June. Newly finished buildings and great excavations for others have established new landmarks.

Imposing in its new fledged majesty, the Bursar's Office reasserts its commanding position over the life and destiny of the University. Massachusetts Hall, the patriarch of college buildings, is once more restored to usefulness, at once the oldest and newest, the crudest and the finest of dormitories. For its renovation equal thanks are due the fire which precipitated its restoration and President Lowell who sponsored it.

Lionel and Mower Halls are also ready for occupancy. So well conceived are their arrangements, and so well executed the work, that those who at first scoffed at them as "Prexy's Pups" now call them "Prexy's Gems."

Both banks of the Charles River bristle with new construction. Work has begun upon McKiniock Hall, the new Freshman dormitory, and across the River the Business School group is spreading and rearing itself over everything in sight. Opposite the north-east corner of the Yard the New Art Museum is also under construction.

Other changes no less significant are in process or in prospect. Memorial Hall and the Old Bursar's Office have been converted temporally to accommodated the Business School, thus for the first time giving to this long-suffering department quarters it can, call its own. Straues Hall is early to be erected between Matthews Hall and Massachusetts Avenue, and work on the new Chemical Laboratory is to be begun as soon as the plans can be completed.

For all these improvements conceived on so large a scale and executed so promptly, too much praise can not be given President Lowell and the Planning Board. Not the least noteworthy of their achievements is the harmony of architectural design effected between the new buildings and the finest examples of the old. The errors of Matthews, Weld and Grays are not being repeated. And future generations will thank God that no neo-Gothic monstrosities have been introduced to mar the simple beauty of the colonial type. The expansion of Harvard's plant and equipment is rapidly becoming an accomplished fact, keeping pace with the need for enlarged facilities.