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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1897)
Il YY AT: (ALUMNI The Chapel is built of rough sand- stone from New Jersey, and is sur- rounded by an arcade of Ohio sand- stone, which gives it a light and grace- ful appearance. On the east end is a large apse and flanking the west gable are two massive stone towers, capped with pierced stone spires. Of these towers, the one nearest the Campus, within the quadrangle, is furnished with a clock, the dial of which is cut stone, and which chimes the quarters and the hours. The capitals of the columns of the arcade were carved by hand after the walls were built. The interior consisted originally of a nave, north and south transepts, and three galleries. There was a liberal use every- where of carving on solid oak, both in ‘molding and rosettes, and in the flow- ered sculpture about the organ and pulpit. The windows were made of mosaic glass, and the greater number are of a memorial character with many interesting inscriptions. The Chapel was not to serve alone as a place of public worship but as a meet- ing place on great academic occasions. With the rapidly increasing number of students it was decided that an addition should be made, and the money required (about $27,000) was advanced by Hon. Robbins Battell. The plans were made by Cady, Berg & See, of New York City, and the work was begun and com- pleted inside of three months, so that at the opening of the fall term of 18938 it was ready for use. The experiment was a success both in the improving of the outward appearance of the Chapel and the maintenance of good acoustic properties. The enlargement of the building included the addition of an aisle on the south side, an arrangement not uncommon in English churches, and a gallery above. In building the new aisle, a porch was added for the main entrance; while the increased breadth, and the additional columns, arches, and broken spaces, added to the beauty of the interior. Through the arrangement of four aisles and the en- largement of the gallery space on the south side, the building was made more convenient for daily use. There were added 400 more sittings by this improv- ment, and now Battell Chapel seats more people than any other church edifice in the city. Sloane Laboratory. The Sloane Physical Laboratory is another substantial testimonial to the thoroughness of the building methods of Smith, Sperry & Treat. It was com- pleted by them in 1883. It is the gift of two brothers, Messrs. Thomas and Henry Sloane, ’66, of New York city. The building is located on Library street, opposite the University Dining Hall, and occupies a space 102 feet in depth by - 89 feet in breadth. It is two stories in height with a high basement and tower, the height of the latter above ground being 100 feet. The basement is of stone and the upper part of pressed brick with terra cotta trimmings. There isa small wing in front, thirty feet in width, in which are recitation and workin grooms, both on the first and second stories. The lecture room in the rear occupies two stories and seats about 200 people. There are more working and instrument rooms in the rear and the basement is used for storage and experiment rooms. The principal reasons which led to placing the laboratory in its present seemingly retired location were the fact that there is comparatively little vibration of the ground on Library street and also the fact that plenty of sunlight is always to be had. | The cost was in the neighborhood of $50,000, that being the amount donated. The Laboratory is used exclusively for Physics and is one of the most perfect in the country. Lawrance Hall. Lawrance Hall was the third addition to the proposed quadrangle, and the building of this, too, went to Smith, Sperry & Treat. It was finished in 1886. Lawrance Hall is a memorial to Mr. Thomas G. Lawrance, a member of the Class of ’84, who died in his Senior year, and it was given to the Yale Cor- poration by his mother. There are four entries to this building, the floors being of stone and the interior walls of red brick, which material is used princi- pally in the construction of the exterior walls. Two pillars of Vermont granite are at the entrance to each one of these hallways. There are forty-two rooms, most of them double rooms, in the five stories of which Lawrance Hall consists. The dormitory stands between the Phelps Memorial Gateway on the south, and Farnam Hall, and is in contact with both of them. It fronts on the Campus, with its rear on College street, and the suites run the entire width of the building. Kent Chemical Laboratory. The Kent Chemical Laboratory, com- pleted in the spring of 1888, by Smith, Sperry & Treat, is the gift of Albert E. Kent, who graduated from Yale in 1853. The building was erected at a cost of about $75,000, and is located on the cor- ner of High and Library streets, directly opposite the Old Library. Itis two stories in height with a high basement, and the masonry work is entirely of brown stone. A flight of stone steps leads up to a large door which opens into a tiled entrance hall a few feet higher. On the first floor, at the right of the entrance, is a lecture room capable of seating 200 stu- dents. A large laboratory, accommo- dating thirty-six men, is also located on this floor. The laboratory on the sec- ond floor accommodates twenty-four students and the one in the basement twelve students. The general store room for apparatus is also in the basement, and from it all the laboratories are sup- plied. ° On the second floor is a private laboratory for the use of Professor Gooch, and several smaller lecture rooms and assistants’ rooms. A large sunny room in the tower is used as a technical library and contains all the standard works that the students may wish to consult. The arrangements for ventilating were the subject of much study. Ventilat- ing shafts run from the walls of the various rooms to the roof, where the vapors are emitted through orifices in the gables. A large amount was expended in pur- chasing the apparatus, and in all re- spects the laboratory is one of the finest in the country. | Welch Wall, The foundations of Welch Hall, one of the handsomest of Yale’s buildings, were started early in the spring of 1891, and it was completed in 1892. The de- Signs were made by Bruce Price, and Smith, Sperry & Treat received for the seventh time the contract to build a Yale building. The general exterior of Welch Hall is more like that of Durfee than any of the other buildings, but the material is Longmeadow rock sand- stone, carved in many places, with a few trimmings of granite. The style of architecture is very mixed, but cer- tainly very imposing. The arches of the building are elliptical and it hasa steep roof, very much like Durfee, with dormer windows. The basement of the building contains four large bath rooms, which were lack- ing up to this time in the construction of the College dormitories. The entire basement, as well as the halls of the building, are faced with Philadelphia buff-colored brick. The dimensions are 168x46, with four stories above the ground, The plana of the rooms, how- W He KRLY ever, is more like that of White Hall, as the suites do not extend clear through the width of the building, as in Law- rance Hall, but the parlors and bed- rooms are on the same side of the build- ing. Each room has an open fire-place and is furnished with steam heat. The studies on the second and third floors have bay windows. On the first, sec- ond and third floors there are six double and six single rooms, but on the fourth floor there are eight double and four single rooms, making a total of twenty- six double and twenty-two single rooms, giving accommodations to seventy-four students. The dormitory is situated on College street, directly in front of South Middle, the oldest College building standing, and has three entries, the middle one of which extends through from College street to the Campus. The name of the donor of the build- ing was withheld, at his request, until the dormitory was nearly completed, and it was announced in the President’s report for the year to be that of Mr. Pierce N. Welch of this city, who took his degree of Bachelor of Arts from Yale in 1862, Mr. Welch presented the building to the College as a memorial to his father, the late Hon. Harmanus M. Welch, who was for many years a prominent citizen of New Haven. Much speculation was indulged in as to the donor, but it was generally believed _ to be Mr. Welch previous to the an- nouncement. The room on the south- east corner is always reserved for a member of the Welch family, whenever there is one in College. The building occupies in part the site of the old Fence. The infirmary. The sum of money needed for the erection of the Infirmary, or home for students who require care in case of ill- ness, was substantially made complete in the early spring of 1892. tract went to Smith, Sperry & Treat. A. lot on Prospect street, opposite the rear portion of the Hillhouse estate,was purchased at the beginning of the year and satisfactory plans were soon after prepared by Messrs. J. Cleveland Cady & Co., of New York. The building was completed about the first of December, and a formal opening for the inspection of those who had generously contributed to the fund for its erection was held on January 25, 1893. | The length of the building is eighty- two feet and its width forty-two feet. It has three stories and contains, in addition to a reception room, office, din- ing room and rooms for the matrons and other attendants, nineteen rooms for students. It is in an excellent situa- tion, and is exceedingly comfortable in every respect, and well adapted to all its purposes. Through the efforts and generous gifts of the ladies who were interested in the securing of this build- ing for the University, the sum of thirty-eight thousand seven hundred dollars was received by the. Treasurer before the end of the year 1892. Of this sum, thirty-five thousand four hundred dollars was given for the purchase of the lot, and the erection of the building, and the remainder to meet the expense of furnishing it. ) Students who from time to time are cared for in this building, in general, pay all expenses incurred in their behalf. . In occasional instances, however, where this proves impossible, it is necessary to provide rooms and care free of charge. White Hall. When the awards of the contract for | the building of White Hall was an- nounced no one was surprised to see it go to Smith, Sperry & Treat, who had come to be looked on as the College builders. The work throughout testi- fies to the solidity of the firm and its principles of construction. It is consid- The con-’ ered by many to be Yale’s best dormi- tory. The plans were drawn by Cady. Berg & See, of New York, and consid- ering the long, flat style which was adopted for utilitarian purposes, a won- derfully pleasing and harmonius whole was produced by these able archi- tects and builders. The money, $150,000, was given by Dr. Andrew J. White, a graduate of the Yale Medical School in the Class of ’46, and the building bears Dr. White’s name. White Hall was completed in 1894 with its present appearance, but this is only half of what is hoped to be an ex- ceedingly beautiful piece of architec- ture, the plan being to erect in time another building similar to the present one with a court between them, thus forming with East and West Divinity Hall a substantial beginning of the prospective new quadrangle. White Hall is at present one of the most popular of the College dormito- ries, although it is not directly on the College yard. It occupies the northeast corner of Elm and High streets, diag- onally opposite the Peabody Museum. It is constructed of red pressed brick, with terra cotta trimmings, and is of a Renaissance style that prevailed in the English manor-houses of the time of Wren. It is four stories in height and the rooms, fifty-two in number, are reached by three entries, lined with brick, similar to those in Welch Hall. The stairs are of stone with iron rail- ings, and the entry floors are paved with mosaic tiling, rendering the build- ing absolutely fire-proof. Each floor has its own water supply and bathroom: all the study rooms and bedrooms are wainscoted, the former being supplied with large open fire-places and hand- some mantel-pieces. The rooms in White Hall are almost all double suites, furnishing accommodations for ninety- six students, with the study and _ bed- rooms facing on the same side of the building, unlike the plan of the suites in Durfee Hall. In the first entry the basement contains the offices of the College periodicals, the Yale Literary Magazine, Yale Courant and Yale Ree- ord, while in the second entry are the offices of the Yale News and YALE ALUMNI WEEKLY. Running parallel to Elm street and joining White Hall on the east is a high iron fence of about sixty. feet in length, with several entrances and gates, in the center of which is a porter’s lodge. _ Berkeley Hall. Berkeley Hall was constructed at the same time as White Hall, and by the same builders, Smith, Sperry & Treat, and is situated on High street imme- diately north of and in contact with it. It has but one entry with about eight rooms on a floor, most of which are sin- gle, and less expensive than those in White. There are forty rooms in all and they are furnished in much the same manner as those of her sister dor- mitory, with fire-places and wainscoted walls, but with no window-seats. The material for its construction was red pressed brick, with stone trimmings, and it was built to accommodate about fifty students. At the time of the planning of White Hall it was found necessary for the Cor- poration to purchase a small amount of property in addition to what they already owned on High street, and after some deliberation it was decided to buy a greater amount of land, and to erect another building from the funds of the College to meet the growing demand for more students’ accommodation. The plans were made by Cady, Berg & See, of New York. It was finished at the same time as White Hall, and ata meeting of the Corporation it was de- cided to name it in honor of Bishop Berkeley, one of the early benefactors of the College.
