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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 1898)
NEW HAVEN, CONN., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1898. Price Tren Cenrs. Vou. Vie No. 23 EDWARD G. MASONS DEATH, A Tribute from President Dwight— Short Sketch of his Life. In the death of Edward G. Mason the Yale brotherhood has lost one of its honored and gifted members—one who loved the University. with a deep and ever-abiding affection, and one who was sincerely loved by a great company of friends. He was a graduate of the year 1860, and was thus moving into the cir- cle of the older alumni. But he re- mained through all.the years so vigor- ous and so youthful, that it was almost impossible to think of him as growing old. The inner life of the spirit was like the outer life of the physical man, full of the freshness and strength of young manhood. It was stirred by the enthusiasm and quickened by the in- spirations which belong to youth. We had a peculiar pleasure in meeting him, because he always carried our thoughts, by his cheerful face and his hopeful words, back to the happy days of the past. Long years of activity seemed to be surely awaiting him, and death seemed far away in the distance of the future. We shall always remember him as, in the best and truest sense, young, with the glory of youth continuing to the end. He was a man of vigorous mind, of high character, of abounding friendli- ness, of noble impulse. of recognized ability and success in his profession, and was at the same time, in an unusual degree, a man of culture outside of the limits of his special call- ing. He was a helper in good causes,- a most useful and honorable, as well as highly honored citizen, a devoted friend of learning-and of the best interests of humanity. As a son of Yale he was ardent in his affection and faithful in his purpose. He had a kindly spirit, which prompted him to generous friendship towards the other sons of the good mother. He had also the strongest confidence in the future of the University and the most earnest desire for its prosperity. Asa member of the Corporation, he was thoughtful for the best interests of the institution and ever ready to offer his counsel and to help his associates in their deliberations. He was a genuine Yale man, with much of the Yale spirit. The few words which I have written do not fully describe the man or give any adequate picture of his life. They cannot do this, because they are so few. But they may, I trust, take their place with other, and perchance more fitting. words written by other friends; and they will, at least, give expression to the friendly regard and kindly remembrance which I have at this hour, and shall bear with me in the future, as I think of this lovable and loving man whom I am glad that I have known. : | Timotay Dwicur. Dec. 10, 1808. Edward Gay Mason, Yale ’60, died in Chicago on the morning of Sunday. December 18. On the Friday preced- ‘ing he had become suddenly uncon- scious, while attending to certain busi- ness in the vaults of a safety deposit company, and had fallen heavily. strik- ing the sharp steel edges of the boxes. After recovering consciousness, he had _ He was a man been transferred to St. Luke’s Hospital. The shock of the fall was serious, but death seems to have resulted from right’s disease, from which he had been a sufferer for several months. Mr. Mason attended the November meeting of the Yale Corporation and appeared then to be in a condition so far from his usual abounding health as to cause his friends no little anxiety. Their minds were somewhat relieved by Mr. Mason’s determination, expressed at the time, to arrange his affairs so that he could soon leave his business and all his many activities for several months. He spoke of taking a long trip. With these facts in mind, the news of last Friday from Chicago made Mr. Mason’s friends here particularly anx- ious. But Saturday’s report seemed a little more reassuring, so that Sunday’s sad news was hardly less of a shock | than it would have been if entirely without warning. A more extended sketch of his life than it is possible to prepare for this number, will be printed in a later issue. Mr. Mason was the son of the late Ros- well B. Mason, and was born in Bridge- port in 1839. He was head of the Chi- cago law firm of Mason Brothers, and was accounted one of the leading law- yers of that section of the country. He was active in many ways in the affairs of his city and state. He was Presi- dent of the Illinois Historical Society and had written valuable historical papers. He was elected member of the Yale Corporation in 1891 and re-elected without opposition in 1897. Two brothers of Mr: Mason followed him in Yale. Four of his sons have al- ready graduated from the College, three are now in the course, and three others are preparing for Yale. Of his three daughters, one is at St. Margaret’s School in Waterbury, and one is study- ing in New York. The children all received word early on Sunday of their father’s death and left for Chicago at once. The Rey. Joseph H. Twichell, 50, of Hartford, a close friend of Mr. Mason, left Hartford on Sunday on re- ceipt of the news to conduct the funeral ‘Services. Mrs. -Mason, who survives her hus- band was Miss Julia M. Starkweather, daughter of Charles Starkweather, of Chicago. THE CHASE COMET. Passed Perihelion last September— To be Seen for Three Months. The comet discovered by Dr. F. L. Chase of the Yale Observatory during the week of Nov. 13th last, seemed for a time to be ill-fated, there having been DR. F. L. CHASE. errors in no less than three of the earlier _ observations sent out, which were not discovered until orbits had been cal- culated from them. Then, too, all but YALE UNIVERSITY CLUB. Looking through the reading room on the ground floor. three of these earlier observations were photographic and, as feared, there had been found to be a considerable dis- crepancy between these and direct visual observations. Hence the wide diver- gence in the first orbits computed, rang- ing from different parabolas to an elipse of three years period. The three days immediately following the discovery (at New Haven cloudy) were followed by bright moonlight nights, and it was im- possible to observe the faint object for nearly two weeks. Since Dec. 7, numerous observations have been made, the comet being well observed at the Yale Observatory with the 8-inch equatorial, on the nights of Dec. 13, 14 and 15, which were unusually clear, and an orbit somewhere near the truth is now had. The comet passed perihelion on about the middle of Sep- tember at a distance of over 200,000,000 miles from the sun. Its orbit is sensibly a parabola and the comet is now gradually receding from the sun, though the earth is moving towards the comet, so that its brightness is still increasing. They are now about 180,- 000,000 miles apart. After a few weeks the earth will draw farther away from the comet and the latter will rapidly lose its brilliance. The comet ought, however, to be visible with larger tele- scopes for two or three months at least. ~~ Chi Phi Elections. The following men from 1oo1 S. have received elections to Chi Phi: _ Ernest Brooks, New York City. William Norris Conner, Maynard, Mass. Nisbet Grammar, Cleveland, Ohio. Edward Woods Hunt, Tacoma, Wash. Ralph Randolph Lee, Erie, Pa. George West Mabee, Balston Spa, N. Y Paul Arthur Sorg, Middletown, O. Edward Schlager Toothe, Madison, N. F: The Fall term of Yale ended with the last Freshman examination at 6 o’clock Wednesday, Dec. 21. The other classes finished their examinations in the order of priority on the same day. UNIVERSITY CLUB IMPROVEMENT, Lower Floor Remodelled—Change in the Constitution. The University Club was opened to its members about five weeks ago, after receiving a thorough overhaul- ing. Last Spring it was decided by the members of the Ninety-Eight Govern- ing Board that certain changes would have to be made. Grosvenor Atter- bury, ’91, was asked to furnish plans for the entire remodeling of the lower floor. Work was begun late in the Summer, owing to Mr. Atterbury’s absence in Europe, and finished in November. The cut we print above is a view of the newspaper and magazine rooms, looking from York street towards the north end of the building. The ceil- ing in this room has theavy ‘beams, stained dark green to match the panel- ing. Two large fire-places, one in each of the rooms, have been put in. Two alcoves, to the right and left, are cosey places for reading, electric lights being directly overhead. The old magazine room on the right on entering is now devoted exclusively to a writing room. Several small tables have been placed in convenient corners with the necessary materials for corre- spondence. On the walls are hung a number of R. M. Crosby’s,’98, drawings; the series which appeared in the Record, picturing Campus life. The cafe in the rear of the building has been repainted, and the walls covered with a dark red paper. It is now very comfortable and cheerful, quite different from formerly. “A large plate glass door has taken the place of the cumbersome wooden one which marked the front entrance.. The improvements have added mate- rially to the attractiveness of the Club and will do much to increase the mem- bership from the different classes; at present there are 140 members. The present Board of Governors re- cently made a change in the constitu- tion in regard to the election of the new Governors and the President. Instead of the previous Governors appointing
