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
