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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1897)
NST cM PST Se aes Sans “A YALE INSTITUTION.” The New Haven House Hself once Belonged to Wale. When Yale College sold the New Haven House, it undoubtedly let goa piece of property that is now worth a merry penny or two and which might be put to a hundred different uses, if in the possession of the University. But of all the good uses that were considered by the management of the College at the time the transfer was made to Mr. Seth H. Moseley in the fall of 1867, there seemed none quite so much to be desired as a good hotel. Plans were already on foot to make the property the site of the Divinity School, but it may-be said without disparage- ment to the claims of the Theological Department, that it was thought that some other site might be as well occu- pied by it and that just then and there the best thing to do was to make sure of having a good hotel which Yale’s friends could always rely upon. It is indeed. a very lively tradition, among those who remember the in- cident of the transfer, that President Woolsey was very firm on this point, and that the Treasury Department of Yale, which at first adopted an indiffer- ent attitude to the prospective pur- chaser, was, after a conference with the head of the College, very much more zealous in completing the deal. | This is going a little ahead for the purpose of an orderly history, but per- haps many of the readers of the Weekly do not know that the Street family, who eave Yale her handsome Art Building and the endowment for it, had also erected and owned the New Haven House prop- erty in substantially the form in which it is at present. At the time the New Haven House was built, it was one of the very few first class hotels of the country. The Massasoit House in Spring- field marked the new departure in oe Actes 2 Al. IM Ne Nene ep yaann UR RUN ALE RLS a SEES while on his way to Boston, and on his first interview with Mr. Kingsley, the Treasurer, he had practically made up his mind that he did not care to con- sider the property. It was atthe second interview, when, according to tradition, President Woolsey had expressed him- self strongly, that it was possible for him to consider it. Since this time the New Haven House has been practically a part of Yale Uni- versity. There are few men who know as many of the graduates of Yale, and especially of the best known of them, as Mr. Moseley. There are few, too, who have followed the affairs of Yale from the standpoint of an intelligent outsider with better opportunities for observa- tion and judgment and with opportuni- ties that were better used. It was only a short time ago, in con- versation with a friend, that Mr. Mose- ley referred to an oft heard complaint of the noise and disorder of the student community. His friend had said he supposed he had had a great deal of trouble with the lawless, especially on the occasion of a great celebration, and that his property was often in danger. Mr. Moseley very quickly replied that he not only never had a feeling of alarm on this account but that he had never had any trouble whatever with students. He had seen them in all kinds of fun and jollity but they had never gone beyond the danger point in their treat- ment of him and of his property, and instead of having unpleasant memories of the students of Yale, he had the very pleasantest recollections of all his asso- ciation with them. His friendships among Yale men he counted one of the best possessions of his life. Mr. Mose- ley was also very quick, in a similar conversation, to repudiate the sugges- tion that he probably lost a good deal of money in bad debts in his relations with students. He says it is the rarest thing ‘are short. VV Ee eos Tax: for him to have any bad account with a Yale man. Instead of being troubled about their payment of debts, he goes out of his way to accommodate them, keeping enough cash in his safe on holidays to cash their checks when they Now and then a check will come back as a result of some man’s carelessness in the keeping of his own account, but he says it is always made good. | : Mr. Moseley has recently suffered from an attack of the grip and for some time past has not been active in the management of the hotel. The affairs of the hotel are now in the hands of his son, Mr. William H. Moseley. Recent changes in the property are familiar to: visitors in New Haven in the-last few years, They include a very large addi- tion to the dining-room and an extensive rearrangement of the lobby and the basement, adding very much to the convenience and attractiveness of the place. Phelps Hall. The beautiful memorial to the late William Walter Phelps, which is known as the Phelps Hall or Gateway, though it has now been in use less than a year, is one of the most familiar sights either to a New Haven visitor or to those who follow an illustrated report of the progress of Yale. Though familiar by several different reproductions in the -WEEELY, it is here given again in order to make complete this chapter on the building era of Yale. The successful consummation of the architect’s design, carried out under very difficult circum- stances, is quite notable. Although ad- joining buildings of totally different architecture, it rises with such impres- sive dignity from what might be called incongruous surroundings, as to fasten the eye at once upon its own bold and artistic form. It is used for recitation rooms and for a home for the Classical Club of Yale. | Vanderbilt Hall. There was much satisfaction among the friends of Yale when it was known that the architect who designed Phelps Hall was to be the one who had drawn the plans for the Vanderbilt me- morial, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Cor- nelius Vanderbilt in memory of their son, William H., who died in his Junior year at Yale. This building, which is reproduced elsewhere in this issue, is one in whose praise all critics, of how- ever severe judgment, unite. Mr. Haight was not limited by reasons financial in perfecting his ideal of a col- lege dormitory. : Three Cady, Berg & See Build- ings. The name of the architect firm of Cady, Berg & See appears very fre- quently in this chapter. It is not possible here to go into any extended description of three more structures which they have designed. They are also reproduced elsewhere in this paper and are,-like the other buildings referred to, already familiar to all those who have been in New Haven in these latter years. ’ ‘Dwight Hall, the home of Yale’s Young Men’s Christian Association and the center of the voluntary religious life of the University, was the first one erected. Chittenden Memorial Library, which gave ample accommodations for this part of the University, is so constructed as to enable it to become a harmonious part of a generous plan of library con- struction to be consummated in the fu- ture, while it is in itself a striking por- tion of the architecture of Yale. A third is Winchester Hall, which is the most imposing of the Sheffield Scien- tific School buildings. This also is illus- trated elsewhere in this paper. The erection of this building was made pos- sible by the generosity. of Mrs. Win- chester. hotel building and service. The Astor House of New York and the Tremont of Boston were, at that time, with the Massasoit, practically the only hotels, as they are classified now, in the coun- try. : The building of the New Haven House was on a very liberal plan, in fact, too liberal a one for the New Haven of that day, which could not support any such hostelry asthat. A great deal of money was put into it and it is of excellent construction throughout, solid brick walls running from cellar to roof. The beams, wherever they have been cut into in recent modifications of the house, show themselves to be of enormous size and great strength. For a number of years, so the belief is, its owners made up a generous deficit in the revenues of the house. As intimated above, this was a part of a very large property, which went to Yale and principally to the building and endowment of the Art School. The property had remained in the possession of the College not long when Mr. Mose- ley, its present proprietor, stopped in New Haven to look it over. He had then been for a number of years travel- ing abroad, seeking to recover his health. He had his early hotel training in the Massasoit House, of which men- tion has already been made, and from there had gone to the Brevoort of New York, then very famous among the hostelries of this country, and sought more by public men and by distin- guished visitors from abroad than any other hotel. Mr. Moseley had success- fully managed this house for about nine years when his health broke down. His coming to New Haven was with the idea of finding a more quiet occu- pation where he would not run the risk of again overtaxing his strength. He stopped here only for a few hours PHELPS MEMORIAL (Architect, Mr. Charles C. Haight.) GATEWAY.
